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With  new  methods,  improved 
products,  Shellubrication  engi- 
neers have  found  the  way  to  prolong 
by  many  miles  that  smooth  and  silent 
"new  car  feel." 

To  do  this  they  created,  among 
other  things,  a  revolutionary  Shell 
Super  Chassis  Lubricant.  This 
improved  lubricant  threads  out  and 
snaps  back  under  the  continuous 
bouncing  and  varying  chassis  pres- 
sures, forestalling  squeaks,  stiff  riding 
action  and  chassis  wear. 

This  is  just  one  of  8  to  16  special 
Shell  products  used  in  Shellubricating 
your  automobile,  whether  new  or  old. 
Like  all  these  modern  Shell  products, 
like  Shell -engineered  Chek- Charts  of 
every  current  make  and  model,  like 
the  famous  blueprint- style  receipts  for 


car  owners,  Shell  Super  Chassis  Lubri- 
cant is  something  you  get  only  with 
Shellubrication. 

The  Shellubrication  dealer  in  your 
neighborhood  is  a  man  to  get  ac- 
quainted with.  Now,  more  than  ever, 
he  promises  you  greater  driving  pleas- 
ure— and  lowered  upkeep  cost. 


ff& 


Shellubrication 
Receipt  Holder 


Extra  services— without  extra  charge 
—to  help  hold  that"New  Car  Look" 

Ladies,  especially,  appreciate  the 
fact  that  Shellubrication  also  helps 
keep  a  new  car  looking  smarter.  With 
each  job,  your  tire  walls  and  running 
boards  are  rubber-dressed.  The  body 
is  wiped  off  with  a  specially  treated 
cloth.  Interior  vacuumed  or  brushed 
out.  Chromium  shined.  And  other  serv- 
ices performed — without  extra  charge. 


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H       SHtEUUTBKICATlOM    RKCORB 


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P-H 
Ln. 


LLP§^n@^?a@i  3 


The  MODERN  UPKEEP  SERVICE 


When  you're  ready  to  turn  in 
your  present  car,  your  Shellu- 
brication Receipts  can  prove 
mighty  handy.  They  comprise  a 
complete  upkeep  biography  of 
your  car,  a  record  you  can  show 
to  any  prospective  buyer  as 
proof  that  your  car  has  received 
better  -  than  -  average  care  .  .  . 
therefore  deserves  a  higher  turn- 
in  price.  Ask  your  neighborhood 
Shellubrication  dealer  for  com- 
plete details — and  get  a  FREE 
Receipt  Holder  from  him  today. 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


HAYMAKING  hits  new  highs,in  efficiency  this  year 
with  the  modern  McCormick-Deering  Hay 
Tools  designed  to  match  the  speed  and  performance  of 
the  new  Farmall  Tractors. 

Two  new  mowers  for  Farmall -A  and  Farmall-B  lead  the 
parade.  You'll  want  to  see  them  and  try  them  in  your 
fields.  They  whir  along  behind  the  Farmalls  at  speeds  up 
to  4%  miles  an  hour.  Another  new  machine  is  the  No.  25 
Tractor  Mower.  It  is  easy  to  attach  and  detach,  fits  prac- 
tically any  farm  tractor,  and  is  an  ideal  all-around  mower. 
Quick-attachable  mowers  are  also  available  for  the 
Farmall-H  and  Farmall-M. 

This  year,  too,  we  introduce  the  McCormick-Deering 
Pickup  Baler,  a  handy,  time-saving  machine  that  picks  up 
and  bales  the  hay  as  you  drive  along  down  the  windrow. 

The  complete  McCormick-Deering  line  includes  mow- 
ers for  both  horse  and  tractor  operation,  dump  rakes, 
tedders,  side-delivery  rakes,  loaders,  green  crop  loaders, 
stackers,  hay  presses,  and  hay  choppers.  Be  ready  to  go 
when  haying  time  comes  around.  See  the  International 
Harvester  dealer  now. 


The  new   No.  25  caster-; 
wheel  type  tractor  mower. 


%  Left:  The  fast 
11  way  to  make 
H  light,airy  wind- 
rows ...  a  new 
Farmall  and 
McCormick- 
Deering  En- 
closed-Gear 
Side    Rake. 


International  Harvester  Company 

(INCORPORATED) 

180  North  Michigan  Avenue  Chicago,  Illinois 


Ask  about  the  NEW 
WcCORWlCK-DEER  NG 

P.CKUP  BAUER  •  •  •  *»"  hay    A 

'■on  the  move.   CB<"  A 


McCORMiCK-DEERING 

HAY  TOOLS 


--!*,;!« 


257 


/MmprooementEra 


"The  Glory  of  God  is  Intelligence" 


MAY,         19  4  0 


VOLUME     43 


NUMBER     5 


"THE    VOICE    OF    THE    CHURCH" 

OFFICIAL  ORGAN  OF  THE  PRIESTHOOD  QUORUMS, 
MUTUAL  IMPROVEMENT  ASSOCIATIONS.  DEPART- 
MENT OF  EDUCATION.  MUSIC  COMMITTEE,  WARD 
TEACHERS.  AND  OTHER  AGENCIES  OF  THE  CHURCH 
OF     JESUS     CHRIST     OF     LATTER-DAY     SAINTS. 


Heber  J.  Grant, 
John   A.  "Widtsoe, 

Editors 
Richard  L.  Evans, 

Managing  Editor 
Marba  C.  Josephson, 

Associate  Editor 

George  Q.  Morris,  General  Mgr. 
Lucy  G.   Cannon,   Associate  Mgr. 
J.  K.   Orton,  Business  Mgr. 


JPul  £dtt&iL  (poqsL 

The  President's  Conference  Message Heber  J.  Grant  267 

How  the  Church  Stands  Today William  Mulder  268 

Moon  Lake  Stake  Reports Edwin  L.  Murphy  272 

Welfare  Progress — 1939 Roscoe  W.  Eardley  273 

The  Mormon  Battalion  in  New  Mexico Kenneth  Allen  278 

The  "Millennial  Star"  Preston  Nibley  281 

Evidences  and  Reconciliations — XXV.  What  is  the  Message 

of  the  Old  Testament? John  A.  Widtsoe  289 

The  Church  Moves   On 286      Music  Page:  Tempo,  Frank  W. 

B.    Cecil  Gates  Writes  Useful  _  _Asper_..'  ...304 


Cantata  297 

Priesthood :    Melchizedek 298 

Aaronic  301 

Ward  Teacher's  Message 302 

Anti  -  Liquor  -  Tobacco      Cam- 
paign   298 

Word  of  Wisdom  Review....302 

Patriarch  Joseph  Bennett 300 


Mutual  Messages: 

New  Champions  of  M   Men 

Basketball,  Les  Goates 264 

Executives 305 

Explorers    307 

Juniors  _307 

Scouts  308 

Bee-Hive  Girls   308 

Field  Photos. 306,  307,  308 


SpLQOJOlL  JsbcdjuAM. 


The  Inspired  Revision  of  the  Bible — Part  III - 

Sidney  B.  Sperry  and  Merrill  Y.  Van  Wagoner  270 

The  "Penny  Black" James  I,  Wyer  276 

The   Common   Source  of  Religious  Truth — V*  Atonement 

Through  Sacrifice Milton  R.  Hunter  282 

Exploring  the  Universe,  Frank-  Homing:      Building  Personality 

lin  S.  Harris,  Jr 259  Through     Speech     Training, 


Telefacts 260 

New  Channels  For  War  Money, 

Jasper  B.  Sinclair  261 

As     Hollywood     Sees    Laraine 

Day  263 

On  the  Book  Rack  290 


Deta  P.  Neeley  291 

The  Cook's  Corner,  Barbara  B. 

Burnett    ......293 

Index  to  Advertisers  _ 316 

Your  Page  and  Ours 320 


fcdiitfibafou 


A  Tenth  of  What? Richard  L.  Evans  288 

The  "Millennial  Star" Richard  L.  Evans  288 

Indwelling  Good Marba  C.  Josephson  288 


JjjctwtL,  (posd/u^,  QjWAAltitfuL  (pu%%lsL 


Fledglings Marge  Stewart  274 

Values—Short  Short  Story Ruth  Shirley  277 

Her  Allotted  Share Onda  Marceau  280 


Frontispiece:      Renaissance, 

Blanche  Bodine 266 

Poems  by  Young  Writers 284 


Poetry   Page  285 

Scriptural  Crossword  Puzzle....318 


JhsL  Qovsuc 


This  unusual  seagull  subject  is  the  work  of  Arthur  E.  Nelson. 


(Do  IJDJUL  JtiwiV- 

The  highest  temperature  at  which 
animate  creatures  can  live  nor- 
mally?   259 

The  extent  of  juvenile  crime  in  the 
United  States  last  year?  260 

What  has  proved  to  be  the  most  ex- 
pensive business  in  the  world?—  261 

Where  you  may  expect  to  find  the 
name  of  Laraine  Day  in  the 
future?   263 

Who  the  new  M  Men  basketball 
champions  are?  264 

How  the  Church  stands  today? 268 

The  extent  and  nature  of  the 
changes  made  by  Joseph  Smith 
in  his  revision  of  the  Bible? 270 

In  what  fields  the  Welfare  Plan 
made  notable  progress  during 
1939?    273 

How  one  mother  won  independence 
for  her  children — and  incident- 
ally for  herself?  274 

What  famous  centennial  May  10, 
1940,  will  mark?  276 

Why  New  Mexico  is  especially  in- 
terested in  Mormon  Battalion 
history  this  year?  278 

The  story  of  the  founding  of  the 
"Millennial  Star"?   281 

What  is  meant  by  "atonement 
through  sacrifice"?  282 

The  name  of  the  newest  stake  to  be 
organized  in  the  Church?  286 

Who  has  been  named  to  head  the 
Tahitian  Mission?  286 

What  means  are  used  in  the  Old 
Testament  to  teach  its  great 
truths?    289 

How  we  may  unwittingly  impair 
a  child's  personality  develop- 
ment?    291 

The  importance  of  tempo  in  hymn- 
singing?  3  04 

What  is  being  planned  for  June 
Conference?  305 


EXECUTIVE    AND    EDITORIAL 
OFFICES: 

50  North  Main  Street,   Salt  Lake  City.   Utah. 

Copyright  1940,  by  Mutual  Funds.  Inc..  a  Cor- 
poration of  the  Young  Men's  Mutual  Improve- 
ment Association  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-day  Saints.  All  rights  reserved.  Sub- 
scription price,  $2.00  a  year,  in  advance;  20c 
single   copy. 

Entered  at  the  Post  Office,  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah,  as  second-class  matter.  Acceptance  for 
mailing  at  special  rate  of  postage  provided 
for  in  section  1103,  Act  of  October,  1917, 
authorized   July  2,   1918. 

The  Improvement  Era  is  not  responsible 
for  unsolicited  manuscripts,  but  welcomes  con- 
tributions. All  manuscripts  must  be  accompanied 
by   sufficient    postage    for    delivery   and    return. 

NATIONAL  ADVERTISING 
REPRESENTATIVES 

Francis  M.  Mayo,  Salt  Lake  City 
Edward  S.  Townsend,  San  Francisco 

MEMBER  OF  THE  AUDIT  BUREAU  OF 
CIRCULATIONS 


A  MAGAZINE  FOR  EVERY 
MEMBER  OF  THE   FAMILY 


258 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


By  FRANKLIN  S.  HARRIS,  JR. 

"Dlood  acquires  its  clotting  property 
*-"  in  the  lungs,  a  group  of  New  York 
doctors  have  discovered.  The  explana- 
tion is  that  blood  platelets  are  produced 
in  the  lung.  As  the  platelets  undergo 
disintegration  they  start  the  clotting 
process  by  releasing  thromboplastin, 
which,  with  calcium  present,  changes 
prothrombin  to  thrombin,  which  acts 
on  fibrinogen  to  form  the  clot  fibers. 
4 

HPhe  splitting  apart  of  a  four-lane 
■*•  highway  in  New  Jersey,  to  make 
two  roadways  separated  by  a  dividing 
center  strip,  resulted  in  a  reduction  of 
fatal  accidents  of  over  eighty-three 
per  cent. 

4 

■\T7hat  effect  does  the  mute  have  on 
*  *  the  sound  of  a  violin?  The  main 
variable  in  the  mute  is  its  weight;  size, 
material,  and  seating  are  relatively  un- 
important, though  varying  for  the  dif- 
ferent strings.  The  mute  tends  to  re- 
duce the  total  intensity  of  the  tone,  not 
in  the  fundamental  but  in  the  other  par- 
tials  at  various  levels.  This  change  of 
"harmonic  structure"  varies  with  the 
string,  pitch  level,  character  of  the 
violin,  and  mute,  according  to  Dr.  C. 
E.  Seashore  and  collaborators. 


Anti-cold  vaccination  reduced  the 
"*"*  number  of  colds  by  seventy-five 
per  cent  in  three  thousand  people  dur- 
ing an  experimental  year  considered. 
This  reduction  is  in  comparison  with 
three  thousand  people  who  had  not 
taken  the  vaccine.  Taken  by  mouth 
daily,  this  vaccine  is  made  from  germs 
found  in  cold  patients,  instead  of  the 
virus  which  causes  colds. 


TT7*iLL  a  rattlesnake  cross  a  horsehair 
"*  rope?  Popular  tradition  says  no, 
but  R.  L.  Ditmars  of  the  New  York 
Zoological  Park  has  published  a  pic- 
ture to  prove,  if  proof  were  needed, 
that  it  will.  The  only  trouble  was  that 
the  red  rattlesnake  crossed  and  re- 
crossed  the  horsehair  lariat  so  many 
times  it  was  hard  to  get  him  to  hold 
still  for  the  picture. 
4 , . 

An  extremely  sensitive  current-meas- 
**  uring  apparatus  can  detect  an 
electric  current  so  small  that  only  one 
electron  passes  along  the  wire  in  five 
minutes. 

•♦ 

Tf  some  of  the  blood  of  an  animal  that 
*  is  falling  asleep  from  over-exertion 
be  injected  into  a  fresh  animal,  the 
fresh  animal  will  fall  into  a  deep  sleep. 
This  experiment  is  one  of  the  argu- 
ments used  in  favor  of  the  hypothesis 
of  sleep-producing  fatigue-poisons. 


Dy  sailing  at  an  angle  to  the  wind,  ice 
boats   can   travel   faster   than    the 
wind   pushing   them,    because   of    the 
small  resistance  of  the  runner  on  ice. 

> 

At  how  high  a  temperature  can  ani- 
**  mate  creatures  live  a  more  or  less 
normal  life?  Though  most  animals  dis- 


play their  characteristic  activities  some- 
where between  freezing  and  one  hun- 
dred degrees  Fahrenheit,  some  species 
are  able  to  tolerate  somewhat  higher 
temperatures.  A  study  of  the  life  at  a 
hot  springs  in  Algeria  disclosed  that 
frogs  were  abundant  up  to  100.4  de- 

(Concluded  on  page  260) 


STYLE  NO.  5032 


THE  GAIETY  OF  THIS  YOUTHFUL  SPORT  FROCK 
IS  TYPICAL  OF  THE  NEW  I.  K.  M.  CREATIONS, 
FASHIONED  FROM  THE  NEW  LUXURY  FABRIC— 
CELANITA,  AND  FEATURING  ORIGINAL  HAND- 
MADE TRIMS 

Tailored  to  Perfection  By  The 

Intermountain  Knitting  Mills,  Inc. 

OGDEN,  UTAH 


Write  For  Information 


J.  EDWIN  NELSON,  President 

259 


THE:    IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


PRESENTS 
THE    NEW 

No.  1 


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Geo.  B.  Everton 
K.  B.  Petersen . 
D.  A.  Brown  .     . 
T.  E.  Oneill  .     . 


.     Logan,  Utah 

Ogden,  Utah 

.     Provo,  Utah 

Richfield,  Utah 


WARNING ! 

FIRE! 

When  it  comes,  is  no  respecter  of  lives 
qr  property.  Every  year  thousands  of 
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worth'of  property  is  destroyed  by  FIRE. 

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ficient and  economical  to  install.  Don't 
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Bed  Comet,  Inc. 

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Littleton,  Colorado  ,-.- 

or 

J.  V.  NELSON 

403  North  9th  West   -Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 
Phone  Wasatch  6 1 39- W      \  [ ..     \'\ 


■#*■ 


TELEFACT 


COST  OF  BRITISH  FIGHTING  FORCES 

jgkl  .       I          .                                  (PER  MAN  PER  YEAR) 

m\  I  in      z^ 

ARMY 


FOOD.  CLOTHING,  MEDICAL,     $2  400 
QUARTERS  MUNITIONS, 
__  TANKS.  ETC. 


NAVY 


FOOD,  CLOTHING,  MEDICAL,       $2  600 
QUARTERS,  MUNITIONS, 

SHIPS  &  REPAIRS 


AIR 
FORCE 


i  Jm  Mb  Mk  MA 

r  <w  mr  mr  Wr 


FOOD,  CLOTHING,  MEDICAL.      $10,000  p.  .       .       B.  .      .    ,  -.    ,.  ,.       . 

MUNITIONS,  PLANES,  ETC  Science  Service-Pictorial  Statistics,  Inc.  4  19 


Exploring  the  Universe 

{Continued  from  page  259) 

grees  Fahrenheit,  and  were  occasion- 
ally found  at  102.2,  though  immersion 
at  the  latter  temperature  is  fatal  in 
about  ten  minutes.  A  crustacean  that 
was  not  found  in  water  below  102.2 
degrees,  was  to  be  seen  in  water  as 
hot  as  124.7  degrees, 
f . 

TT'he  entire  surface  of  a  normal  lung 
has  been  estimated  to  be  equal  to 
the  squared  area  of  thirty-one  feet  on 
a  side.  In  a  day  of  normal  respiration 
the  air  breathed  would  fill  a  box  meas- 
uring seven  feet  in  each  direction. 


npHOUGH    not     easily,    black    ducks 
can  dive  to  the  bottom  of  as  much 
as  ten  feet  of  water  to  get  food. 


TUT  AVE  women  changed  in  their  desire 
to  appear  beautiful?  Two  inter- 
esting objects  from  the  eleventh  Egyp- 
tian dynasty  (about  2200  B.  C. )  show 
the  interests  of  women  at  that  time. 
One  fragment  shows  the  woman  hold- 
ing a  mirror  in  her  left  hand  while  she 
applies  a  beauty  cream  to  her  face 
with  a  cloth  in  her  right  hand.  A  statue 
found  at  Lisht  shows  a  woman  having 
her  hair  dressed  while  she  nurses  her 
baby. 


Professor  A.  J.  Bone  found  by  a  test 
that  he  could  get  fifty  per  cent  more 
gasoline  mileage  over  the  same  route 
on  traffic-free  Sunday  mornings  than 
he  could,  during  the  usual  traffic  con- 
gestion. 


Ctraw  is  as  good  a  food  for  energy 
*^  as  hay,  but  cattle  cannot  digest 
straw.  To  overcome  this  problem  some 
English  scientists  soak  straw  in  a  one- 
ana-one-quarter  per  cent  solution  of 
caustic  soda  for  a  day.  After  the  soda 
is  washed  out,  cows,  sheep,  and  other 
cud-chewers  digest  the  straw  and  grow 
fat  on  it. 


TELEFAX! 


JUVENILE  CRIME  IN  U.  S.  A.  (1939) 


UNDER  VOTING  AGE  ARRESTED 


1C 


Uo-  J 


FOR  MURDER 


ROBBERY 


BURGLARY- 


AUTO  THEFTS 


OF  VOTING  AGE  ARRESTED 


88%  PERCENT  OF  ALL  CASES 


,    54%         Sdehce  Service-Pictorial  Statistics,  fncT.  12-5 


:  :;  I 


•■260 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MA  ^19  40 


NEW  CHANNELS 
t&v  WAR  MONEY 

By  JASPER  B.  SINCLAIR 

War  is  the  most  expensive  and 
most  senseless  business  in  the 
world.  It  has  been  estimated 
that  our  participation  in  the  World 
War,  from  a  purely  financial  stand- 
point, cost  the  United  States  well  in 
excess  of  forty  billion  dollars. 

The  sum  is  so  staggering  that  no  one 
can  fully  appreciate  just  what  it  repre- 
sents, of  course.  Had  that  money  been 
put  to  constructive  uses  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  United  States  and  the  bet- 
terment of  our  citizens,  the  results 
would  have  been  unbelievable. 

Here  are  some  ideas  on  what  this 
money  might  have  done  in  providing 
individual  economic  security  and  ad- 
vancing the  general  welfare  of  the  na- 
tion: 

A  part  of  it  could  have  paid  the  cost 
of  providing  electric  wiring  for  9,400,- 
000  American  homes.  It  could  also 
have  paid  off  all  the  farm  mortgages  in 
the  United  States.  Ten  billion  dollars 
would  have  paid  both  these  bills  in  full. 

Another  billion  and  a  half  dollars 
would  provide  educational  endowments 
and  scholarships  equal  to  those  already 
in  existence  in  this  country. 

Four  schools,  each  representing  a 
construction  cost  of  $250,000,  could 
have  been  built  in  every  county  in  the 
entire  United  States.  That  would  take 
$3,073,000,000  in  all. 

To  this  we  could  also  add  a  one- 
million-dollar  airport  for  every  county 
in  the  United  States.  That  would  ac- 
count for  exactly  $3,073,000,000  more, 
spread  over  our  three  thousand  and 
seventy-three  American  counties. 

We  can  allot  another  five  billion 
dollars  from  this  far-reaching  fund  to 
provide  adequate  flood  and  soil  erosion 
prevention  in  the  districts  that  are  most 
vitally  concerned  in  such  a  program. 

A  little  less  than  five  billion  dollars 
would  set  up  the  finest  trust  fund  in 
the  world.  Invested  at  three  per  cent, 
it  would  provide  a  monthly  sum  of  $100 
for  every  person  in  the  United  States 
who  suffers  the  handicap  of  blindness 
or  deafness. 

Thus  far  we  have  not  nearly  ex- 
hausted the  total  of  money  expended 
in  the  conduct  of  a  useless  war.  Out 
of  the  money  still  remaining  at  our  dis- 
posal, we  can  build  ten  Panama  Canals 
or  ten  Boulder  Dam  projects. 

To  this  we  might  add  one  hundred 
bridges  each  equal  in  cost  and  size  to 
New  York's  Triborough  bridge.  Or 
we  can  build  two  hundred  bridges  each 
equal  in  cost  and  size  to  San  Francisco's 
Golden  Gate  bridge. 

Diverted  into  these  channels,  the 
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uThe  Spoken  Word" 

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UNTO  the  HILLS 

By  RICHARD  L.  EVANS 

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Now  for  the  first  time  these  challenging  comments  are  presented  in  book 
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THE    IMPROVEMENT    ERA,    MAY,    1940 


TO    UTAH    FARMERS  J 

Mrs.  Emel  Johnson  (Lizzie  Johnson  she's  mostly  called) 
is  rated  tops  as  a  farmer  in  a  section  where  farming  is 
tops.  She  and  her  son,  Harold,  have  operated  the  family's 
400- acre  diversified  crop  farm  in  Franklin  County,  Kansas, 
since  her  husband  passed  on  in  1932.  "I  used  to  call  myself 
a  farmerette  but  now  I  guess  I'm  just  a  plain  farmer," 
says  Mrs.  Johnson.  "All  my  life  I've  thought  that  a  farm 
was  the  best  place  in  the  world  to  live.  We've  got  a  good 
farm  in  a  state  that's  hard  to  beat — this  is  home  and  I'm 
proud  of  it!"  When  I  told  the  Johnsons  I'd  like  to  print 
their  story  they  were  glad  to  oblige.  What  they  told  me 
is  set  out  here  with  their  full  approval. 

— Your  Safeway  Farm  Reporter 


MOTHER  AND  SON  TEAM 
MAKES  GOOD 


Harold  Johnson  is  an  active  member  of  the  Young  Farmers  Club,  started  in  nearby 
Ottawa  a  couple  of  years  ago.  Mary  Johnson,  his  wife  (not  shown  here)  also 
belongs  to  this  club.  Harold  is  an  experienced  farmer  with  a  good  head  for  fig- 
ures. 190  acres  of  the  400-acre  Johnson  place,  he  told  me,  are  in  growing  crops, 
the  balance  being  in  pasture  and  prairie  grass  for  cattle  and  livestock. 

"In  an  average  year,"  said  Harold,  "we'll  get  about  2000  bushels  of  corn 
from  65  acres — 1650  bushels  of  wheat  from  55  acres — 1500  bushels  of  oats 
from  30  acres — and  60  tons  of  alfalfa  from  30  acres.  Another  10  acres  are 
planted  to  grain  sorghums.  Our  livestock  provides  additional  cash  income.  We 
have  about  50  head  of  Herefords,  a  half-dozen  dairy  cows,  and  we'll  sell  off 
about  60  shoats  a  year.  What  with  one  thing  and  another  we  can  generally 
market  the  year  'round  and  that's  something  my  mother  is  especially  good  at." 


"AS  a  little  girl,"  Lizzie  Johnson  told  me,  "I  had 
A  the  principle  of  'waste  not,  want  not'  drummed 
into  my  head,  and  I  contend  nothing  truer  was  ever 
said.  We've  tried  to  follow  that  idea  on  our  farm. 

"Take  this  land,  for  instance.  We've  terraced 
nearly  every  acre  to  prevent  soil  erosion.  We  feed 
our  land  with  nitrates  and  phosphates,  till  it  with 
modern  machinery,  rotate  crops  and  diversify.  All 
this  means  a  lot  of  hard  work  but  Harold  and  I 
figure  it  pays  out  in  the  yields  we  get. 

"Maybe  it's  because  the  Safeway  people  run  their 
business  efficiently  and  without  waste — like  Harold 


and  I  try  to  run  ours — that  I  enjoy  dealing  with 
them.  Anyway,  I  know  the  Safeway  people  are  okeh. 
I've  sold  things  to  them  and  bought  groceries  from 
them  for  a  good  many  years. 

"For  my  eggs,  fruit,  potatoes  and  the  like 
Safeway  always  pays  a  fair  price — at  least  the  mar- 
ket and  often  better.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  direct 
way  Safeway  operates  is  a  real  help  to  their  store 
customers  as  well  as  to  producers.  It  means  a  money 
saving  on  good  quality  foods  and  I  guess  that's 
something  people  are  always  glad  to  get." 

THE  SAFEWAY  FARM  REPORTER 


m 


The  Johnson  place  is  spic  and  span,  with 
neat  white  buildings  and  well-cared-for 
land.  White-faced  Herefords  feed  in  the 
rich  pastures  surrounding  the  farm,  along 
with  quite  a  number  of  sheep  and  hogs 


■■ 


262 


Qa.  dlolhfivood.  $ssa. 

LARAINE  DAY 


LARAINE  DAY 

In  the  Long  Beach  Sun  of  February 
16,  1940,  appeared  an  extensive 
story  by  Frederick  C.  Othman, 
United  Press  writer,  from  which  we 
quote : 

Wonders  never  cease  and  today  we  met 
in  the  center  of  Hollywood  a  movie  actress, 
and  a  beautiful  one,  too,  who  never  has 
tasted  a  cocktail  nor  smoked  a  cigarette. 

Her  name  is  Laraine  Day.  .  .  .  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  the  Latter-day 
Saints.  She's  engaged  to  a  missionary,  and 
we  have  the  greatest  respect  for  her.  Only 
we're  a  little  surprised  that  a  girl  of  her 
temperament  and  background  is  in  the 
movies. 

"But  it  isn't  at  all  surprising,"  she  in- 
sisted. "Mormons  don't  drink,  nor  smoke, 
but  they  have  no  objections  to  the  theater, 
nor  to  motion  pictures.  In  fact  I  received 
my  first  stage  experience  in  Church  plays, 
and  here  in  Hollywood  I'm  in  charge  of  a 
little  theater  group  sponsored  by  the 
Church." 

Miss  Day,  incidentally,  had  a  grand- 
father who  had  six  wives  and  fifty-two 
children.  .  .  . 

Miss  Day,  whose  real  name  is  Laraine 
Johnson,  is  hazel-eyed,  barely  twenty,  and 
one  of  the  brightest  of  M-G-M's  younger 
stars.  .  .  . 

Currently  she  is  playing  the  leading  fem- 
inine role  in  "And  One  Was  Beautiful," 
opposite  Robert  Cummings.  And  if  ever 
there  was  a  living  example  of  the  fact  that 
a  girl  needn't  be  wild  to  succeed  in  Holly- 
wood, she  is  it. 

Little  more  than  a  year  ago  she  was 
living  with  her  parents  in  Long  Beach,  ap- 
pearing in  Long  Beach  Community  Play- 
ers productions  and  going  with  a  young 
amateur  actor,  Burnett  Ferguson,  who 
earned  his  living  by  ushering  in  a  movie. 

Laraine  converted  him  to  Mormonism, 
and  he  currently  is  spreading  the  Gospel 
of  the  Church  in  Pennsylvania.  She  is 
proud  of  that. 

Miss  Day  was  playing  in  "Lost  Hori- 
zons" at  Long  Beach  when  a  Metro  talent 
scout  saw  her  a  year  and  a  half  ago.  She 
came  to  Hollywood  at  his  behest  and  has 
been  earning  a  large  salary  ever  since. 

In  accordance  with  the  tenets  of  Mor- 
monism she  tithes  this  wage,  giving  ten 
per  cent  of  it  to  the  Church,  and  she  is 
glad  to  be  able  to  give  so  much. 

She  makes  a  practice  of  going  to  Church 
every  Sunday,  and  sometimes  twice,  once  in 
the  morning  and  again  at  night.  She  never 
drinks  coffee  or  tea. 

She's  as  pretty  a  girl  as  we  ever  saw, 
and  as  intelligent,  and  soon  she's  going  to 


To  Hollywood  columnists  and  ob- 
servers Laraine  Day  is  a  sin- 
cere, lovely,  and  hard-working  girl, 
rapidly  rising  toward  stardom — but 
to  members  of  the  Church  in  south- 
ern California  she  is  a  devoted  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  and  an  exemplary 
young  woman,  until  recently  drama 
director  of  Long  Beach  Ward 
M.  I.  A.,  one-time  winner  of  a  Los 
Angeles  Stake  Church  History  class 
award  for  a  two-and-one-half-min- 
ute  talk,  and  one-time  member  of  a 
dramatic  cast  which  took  all-Church 
honors  at  June  Conference  in  Salt 
Lake  City.  Her  former  bishop,  Ed- 
ward H.  Anderson,  Jr.,  writes:  "She 
has  continued  her  work  in  the 
Church  ...  is  a  young  woman  to  be 
respected,  and  has  remained  com- 
pletely in  touch  with  her  former 
companions  notwithstanding  the 
changed  status  which  has  come  to 
her.  ...  I  have  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  she  is  everything  repre- 
sented in  the  article  referred  to." 

We  here  reproduce  excerpts  from 
recent  syndicated  columns  concern- 
ing Laraine  Day  (Johnson). 


W&SB^M 


tell  us  some  more  about  the  Latter-day 
Saints.  Her  ancestors  came  all  the  way 
from  South  Africa  to  Utah  to  join  the 
Church.  She  said  they  lost  their  all  in  the 
doing,  but  they  didn't  mind. 

And  if  anybody  ever  converts  an  old 
agnostic  like  us,  we'd  rather  it  would  be 
Miss  Day  than  anybody  else  we  know. 

"Crom  the  Los  Angeles  Examiner  of 
*•  March  17,  1940,  in  the  column 
conducted  by  Louella  O.  Pars*ons,  mo- 
tion picture  editor  of  International 
News  Service,  we  quote: 

Laraine,  who  is  nineteen,  is  naturally 
walking  on  air  these  days,  after  being  fore- 
cast as  one  of  the  coming  stars  of  1940. 
She  is  a  simple,  natural  girl,  with  no  af- 
fectations, and  a  wholesome  outlook  on 
life,  which  is  decidedly  refreshing  in  these 
jitterbug  days.  I  had  to  smile  to  myself 
when  I  thought  how  different  Laraine  is 
from  the  press-agent  created  star  of  some 
years  ago.  She  is  thoroughly  honest,  with 
no  pretension  of  glamour.  .  .  . 

She  was  graduated  from  high  school  in 
Long  Beach,  California,  and  appeared  in 
amateur  plays,  when  Marty  Martyn  dis- 
covered her  and  worked  hard  to  get  her 
in  the  movies.  I  thought  she  had  been  dis- 
covered by  an  M-G-M  coach,  but  she  said 
she  has  made  thirteen  pictures  in  all,  and 
her  first  one  was  at  Paramount.  .  ,  . 

Her  name,  Johnson,  was  changed  to  Day 
because  of  a  great  admiration  she  had  for 
her  dramatic  coach,  the  late  Elias  Day,  and 
Johnson,  M-G-M  thought,  might  conflict 
with  Rita  Johnson. 

Laraine  was  born  in  Utah,  and  when  I 
asked,  "Are  you  a  Mormon?"  she  said: 

"Yes,  my  family  are  all  Mormons." 

I  shall  watch  Laraine's  career  with  in- 
terest, for  I  believe  she  is  headed  for  star- 
dom. Moreover,  it's  refreshing  to  find  a 
young  girl  so  unaffected  and  so  lacking 
in  artificiality. 


I  figure  FULLER 
quality  PAINT 
adds  many  times 
its  cost  to  the 
value  of  my  home. 


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NEIGHBORHOOD 

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NEW  CHAMPIONS  OF 
M  MEN  BASKETBALL- 


By  IMS  GOATES 
Sports  Editor,  Deseret  News 


o 


HOVEY  PRESS 

DANCE    PROGRAMS— TICKETS— INVITATIONS 

25  East  No.  Temple— Salt  Lake  City— Was.  9672  fray,   these  two   regional  playoffs   ac- 


kNE  hundred  and  sixty  Mutual 
Improvement  Association  bas- 
ketball players  pitched  812  field 
goals  as  approximately  6,200  fans 
looked  on  at  the  biggest  and  best  M 
Men  tournament  ever  conducted  in  the 
long  history  of  this  great  and  colorful 
cage  classic.  Some  eight  thousand 
boys  took  part  in  the  1940  campaign, 
which  had  its  big  finale  in  the  Deseret 
Gymnasium  March  20  to  23. 

The  tournament  was  an  elaborate 
expression  of  a  lofty  idealism  in  recre- 
ative M.  I.  A.  activity.  The  cham- 
pionships set  up  a  new  standard,  not 
only  in  the  stellar  type  of  basketball 
presented  but  also  in  the  very  sporting 
manner  in  which  the  members  of  the 
sixteen  teams  conducted  themselves. 
Indeed,  it  would  not  have  been  far 
amiss  to  have  presented  all  the  squads 
with  sportsmanship  trophies. 

Lovell  West  Ward  of  Wyoming 
made  it  an  M  Men  holiday  by  garner- 
ing both  the  championship  prize  and 
the  coveted  Deseret  News  sportsman- 
ship award.  Coach  Reed  Colvin's 
husky  and  energetic  Indians  pursued 
a  hectic  trail  in  riding  to  the  top.  In 
climbing  to  the  uppermost  heights  of 
M.  I.  A.  sports  competition,  Lovell 
swamped  Richfield  First,  55  to  37; 
came  from  behind  to  nose  out  Union 
of  the  South  Salt  Lake  District,  29  to 
27;  trounced  South  Bountiful  42  to  30; 
and  in  the  titular  test  barely  eked  out 
a  35  to  33  victory  over  Provo  Fourth. 

Here  is  the  big  basket-pitching  joust 
in  resume : 

First  Day— Union  27,  Springville  First 
25;  Lovell  West  55,  Richfield  First  37; 
Stirling,  Canada  24,  South  Bountiful  35; 
Elmhurst,  Oakland  28,  Logan  Fifth  21; 
Tempe,  Arizona  23,  Maywood,  Los  An- 
geles 40;  Harvard,  Salt  Lake  City  40, 
Pocatello,  Idaho  Third  26;  Ogden  Eight- 
eenth 49,  Enterprise,  Utah  45;  Provo 
Fourth  29,  Portland  26. 

Second  Day  (Quarter-finals) — South 
Bountiful  34,  Elmhurst  32;  Maywood  34, 
Harvard  29;  Lovell  West  29,  Union  27; 
Provo  Fourth  42,  Ogden  Eighteenth  25; 
Tempe  41,  Pocatello  Third  39;  Springville 
41,  Richfield  37;  Logan  Fifth  60,  Stirling 
14;  Enterprise  49,  Portland  33. 

Third  Day  (Semi-finals) — Provo  Fourth 
35,  Maywood  29;  Lovell  42,  South  Boun- 
tiful 30;  Tempe  49,  Enterprise  47;  Logan 
Fifth  30,  Springville  First  19;  Elmhurst  ^29, 
Union  23;  Harvard  42,  Ogden  Eighteenth 
40. 

Final  Day  (Championship  Results)- — 
Lovell  35,  Provo  Fourth  33;  Maywood  47, 
South  Bountiful  29;  Harvard  49,  Elmhurst 
35;  Logan  Fifth  44,  Tempe  33. 

Several  departures  from  previous 
routine  in  conduct  of  the  tournament 
added  new  interest:  One  change  in 
qualifying  procedure  gave  M  Men  fans 
of  greater  Salt  Lake  City  two  prelim- 
inary or  district  meets  to  establish  en- 
tries for  the  all-Church  finals.  Instead 
of  reducing  interest  in  the  big  climactic 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


1940    CHAMPIONS    IN    WORLD'S    LARGEST 
BASKETBALL   CIRCUIT 

Lovell  West  Ward  M  Men,  Wyoming's  representatives 
in  the  All-Church  M.  I.  A.  basketball  tournament, 
headed  bach  to  the  plains  country  of  the  Cowboy  State 
with  the  title.  It  is  said  by  basketball  experts  that 
the  Wyoming  team  is  one  of  the  finest  coached  aggre- 
gations ever  to  come  to  the  Salt  Lake  classic.  The 
champions  are — front  row  (left  to  right) :  Lynn 
Doerr,  Coach  Reed  Colvin,  Sponsor  Viola  Jorgenson, 
Norman  Doerr,  Elmer  Burnham.  Second  row:  Bob 
Tolman,  Brownie  Brown,  Boice  Asay,  Wyoming 
Brown,  Manager  L.  Gwinn.  Last  row:  Don  Rogers, 
Wilmer   Burnham. 

tually  rivaled  the  main  event  in  the 
standard  of  play  offered  as  well  as  in 
attendance. 

A  unifying  gesture,  introduced  last 
season,  was  the  banquet  given  in  honor 
of  all  the  players  and  coaches.  Here 
George  Q.  Morris,  General  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Young  Men's  Mutual 
Improvement  Association,  explained  the 
real  purpose  of  the  basketball  pro- 
gram, congratulated  the  players  on  their 
clean  and  capable  performances,  and 
urged  an  even  closer  observance  of 
M.  I.  A.  ideals. 

It  was  the  consensus  of  coaches  and 
critics  that  the  M  Men  teams  this  sea- 
son played  the  cleanest  and  most  scien- 
tific brand  of  ball  in  the  long  annals  of 
the  sport.  For  the  first  time  the  intri- 
cate art  of  screening,  checking,  pivot- 
post  shooting,  and  other  innovations 
studied  closely  by  students  of  the 
basketball  sport,  was  observed  in  ef- 
fective execution.  Reports  of  the  tour- 
nament physician,  Dr.  David  E.  Smith, 
brought  out  the  fact  that  never  in  the 
history  of  the  event  were  the  athletes 
in  such  superb  physical  condition. 

Homer  C.  Warner,  Reed  H.  Rich- 


ards, and  John  D.  Giles  put  over  the 
M  Men  tournament  without  a  hitch. 
Fourteen  supervisors,  scattered 
throughout  the  vast  M.  I.  A.  domain, 
did  valiant  service  in  conducting  their 
respective  schedules,  playoffs,  and  in- 
ter-regional  competitions. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  meet  Su- 
perintendent George  Q.  Morris  pre- 
sented the  General  Board  individual 
awards  to  the  Lovell  and  Provo  teams, 
and  Les  Goates,  sports  editor  of  The 
Deseret  News,  presented  team  trophies 
donated  by  this  newspaper  to  Lovell 
for  the  championship  and  best  sports- 
manship, and  to  Harvard  Ward  as 
Salt  Lake  District  champions. 

News  staff  reporters  headed  by  Lou 
Jeffs  and  assisted  by  Mack  Corbett, 
Conrad  Harrison,  and  Les  Goates, 
named  the  following  all-star  teams  for 
The  Improvement  Era: 


First  Team 
Lynn  Doerr, 

Lovell 
Ray  Olsen, 

Harvard 
Roland  Jensen, 

Provo 
Dick  Luntz, 

Maywood 
Mel  Briggs, 

Logan 


Second  Team 

Forward   Grant  Clove, 

Enterprise 
Forward   Norm  Doerr, 

Lovell 
Center     Irv  Cleverley, 

So.  Bountiful 
Guard      Don  Rogers, 

Lovell 
Guard      Albert  Gilbert, 

Provo 


OUTSTANDING   1940   PLAYERS   IN   VAST  REALM 

OF   CHURCH    M    MEN    BASKETBALL   AS 

SELECTED    BY  THE   "DESERET   NEWS" 

All-Church  M.  I.  A.  basketball  stars  of  1940  are 

pictured  below.  They  are  (left  to  right):  Ray  Olson 

of   Harvard,    Roland   Jensen   of    Provo  Fourth,    Lynn 

Doerr,  of   Lovell,  Wyoming,   Melvin   Briggs  of   Logan 

Fifth,  and  Dick  Luntz  of  Maywood,  California.    Briggs 

and  Luntz  are  the  guards  and  Jensen,  center. 


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for  the  1 940  Exposition. 


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WITH 


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tints — the  only  paints  specially  CLI- 
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mail. 

BENNETT   GLASS   &   PAINT   CO. 

SALT  LAKE  CITY 


265 


RENAISSANCE 


a 


DID  not 
Really  live 
Until  my  son  s 

Small  cry  first 

Swept  aside 

The  cloak  of  self 

Which  wrapped  me  in. 

Till  then, 

The  days  slipped  by, 

A  glittering  chain 

Of  golden  sun 

And  silver  rain, 

The  hours  but  jewels 

Set  in  its  exquisite  length. 

Strange  that 

One  weak  cry 

Of  his 

Could  pierce  the  fog 

Of  pain  and  suffering 

Which  numbed  me 

Into  some  far 

Place  of  half  forgetting! 

Strange  that  hearing, 

I  should  suddenly 

Be  born  myself:  1} 

Become  a  being, 

Seeking  not 

To  breathe  of  life 

That  I,  myself, 

Might  laugh  and  weep, 

But  that 

His  frail  claim 

To  laughter 

And  to  tears 

Should  surely  strengthen 

Into  years 

Of  blessed  growth 

And  ecstasy  of  living! 


By  BLANCHE  BODINE 


266 


...j... 


Photo  fcu    Dr.    Wayne  B.    Hales. 


tf/iB  EDITDRB  PBGE 

JhiL  (pMAxdswiiiu  ^onpiMnoL 


=© 


(^omplete  text  of  two  messages  received 
from  President  Grant  and  read  at  the 
110th  Annual  Conference. 


jjut&t  vyfa&mtpL 


To  the  Saints  in  Conference  Assembled: 
I  sincerely  regret  that  I  am  not  present  with 
you  at  this  opening  meeting  of  our  conference. 
I  know  of  the  spiritual  uplift  that  will  come  to  you. 
Through  the  years  I  have  always  counted  it  a  great 
blessing  to  participate  with  my  brethren  and  sisters 
in  General  Conference. 

I  left  home  on  the  26th  of  January  and  attended 
the  dedication  of  the  Mormon  Battalion  Monument 
at  San  Diego  and  was  one  of  the  speakers,  experi- 
encing much  liberty  in  my  talk.  These  proceedings 
were  a  great  tribute  to  the  achievement  of  our 
people.  I  was  pleased  with  the  talk  of  Brother 
Andrew  Jenson.  I  also  enjoyed  the  M.  I.  A.  meet- 
ing in  the  evening.  I  afterwards  attended  the  con- 
ference at  Inglewood  Stake.  In  the  morning  I 
didn't  feel  well  enough  to  speak  but  spoke  in  the 
afternoon  for  about  forty  minutes  with  perfect 
liberty.  That  night  I  was  feeling  poorly  and  the 
next  morning  was  removed  to  the  hospital  for 
medical  attention  and  treatment.  The  treatment 
there  was  successful.  I  was  very  glad  I  had  Broth- 
er McKay  call  on  me  in  the  hospital  and  give  me  a 
blessing  and  I  am  grateful  beyond  expression  for 
the  faith  and  prayers  of  the  Saints.  I  know  of  a 
certainty  that  your  prayers  have  been  heard  and 
answered  in  my  behalf. 

I  am  very  grateful  that  now  I  can  be  around 
working  at  times  but  mostly  resting,  exercising  and 
taking  care  of  myself  to  the  end  that  I  may  realize 
a  full  recovery.  About  the  middle  of  March  I  moved 
from  the  hospital  to  the  home  of  my  grand-nephew, 
Del  Grant,  where  I  have  been  comfortably  located 
and  have  been  improving  in  my  health  every  day 
making  really  astonishing  advancement,  according 
to  the  doctors. 

I  had  hoped  at  least  to  speak  to  the  conference  by 
radio,  but  the  doctors  feel  it  unwise  to  subject  my- 
self to  that  great  strain.  They  feel  too,  that  it  would 
be  better  to  regain  my  strength  before  making  an 
attempt  to  return  home.  Therefore,  I  shall  remain 
here  for  a  few  weeks  more.  The  doctors  feel  it  a 
matter  of  wisdom  for  me  to  stay  here  another  few 
weeks  even  though  there  would  be  little  danger  if 
I  were  to  return  home  now.  I  send  my  love  and 
blessings  to  all  the  Saints  and  pray  that  you  may 
have  a  time  of  rejoicing  during  conference. 

I  have  been  made  happy  by  the  new  stakes  that 


have  been  formed  of  late  and  the  reorganization 
of  our  general  boards.  I  earnestly  pray  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  new  officers  in  the  stakes  and  on  the 
several  boards.    Truly  Zion  is  growing. 

I  sympathize  with  our  young  people  because  of 
the  temptations  that  beset  them.  I  urge  them  as  I 
always  have  to  live  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  fully. 
In  that  way  they  will  have  health  and  happiness  and 
will  meet  with  success  in  this  life  and  will  have  an 
eternity  of  joy  in  store  for  them  in  the  life  to  come. 
I  bless  them  with  courage  to  meet  the  problems  that 
lie  ahead. 

It  is  a  joy  to  me  to  bear  again  my  testimony  of 
my  absolute  knowledge  of  the  divinity  of  the  work 
in  which  we  are  engaged  and  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Savior  and  of  the  divine  work  of  the  Prophet  Joseph 
Smith. 

I  was  grieved  to  hear  of  the  passing  of  Elder 
Harold  G.  Reynolds,  who  has  been  in  charge  of  the 
transportation  in  our  missionary  system.  He  was 
a  true  Latter-day  Saint.  May  our  Heavenly  Father 
bless  and  sustain  his  wife  and  children. 

I  most  earnestly  pray  for  all  the  general  and 
local  officers  both  in  the  Priesthood  and  the  aux- 
iliary organizations  and  for  the  advancement  of  the 
work  of  God,  and  I  send  my  love  and  blessings  to 
the  Saints  at  home  and  abroad.  Amen. — Read  at 
the  opening  session,  Friday,  April  5,  1940. 


SsxjwuL  TflsLUkaqsL 


Presidents  J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr.,  and  David  O. 
r    McKay. 

Care  Mormon  Conference,  Salt  Lake  Tabernacle, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

I  cannot  adequately  express  the  joy  that  came 
from  listening  in  on  this  morning's  session  of  con- 
ference. It  came  through  wonderfully  clear  and 
was  a  spiritual  feast  in  which  many  friends  here 
joined.  I  was  especially  pleased  that  President 
McKay  was  able  to  speak  with  such  ease.  I  am 
looking  forward  with  great  anticipation  to^  this 
afternoon's  session  in  which  I  shall  join  with*  you 
in  spirit.  I  am  feeling  fine  today  and  improving 
some  every  day.  Please  convey  again  to  the  Saints 
my  love  and  blessings. 

HEBER  }.  GRANT. 

Read  at  the  dosing  session  of  conference,  Sun- 
day,  April  7,  1940. 


267 


HOW  THE 
CHURCH 

STANDS 
TODAY 


By  WILLIAM  MULDER 


Ctatistical  Report  and  Highlights 
from  the  110th  annual  confer- 

ENCE. 


THE  One  Hundred  and  Tenth 
Annual  General  Conference  of 
the  Church,  which  met  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  April  5,  6,  and  7,  was 
written  into  the  dual  record  of  official 
report  and  unforgettable  personal 
experience  as  a  gathering — power- 
ful, significant,  faith-promoting — 
where  men  and  women  seeking  to 
serve  God  and  their  fellow  men 
found,  in  terms  of  plain  speech  and 
inspiring  music,  that  the  Gospel  is 
still  man's  most  precious  inher- 
itance. 


EUROPEAN     AND     AMERICAN     MISSION     PRESI- 
DENTS      AT       THE       GENERAL       CONFERENCE 

Seated,  left  to  right:  Don  B.  Colton,  Frank 
Evans,  John  A.  Israelsen,  Joseph  Jacobs,  M.  Douglas 
Wood,  A.  Richard  Peterson,  Thomas  E.  McKay, 
Wallace  F.  Toronto,  Mark  B.  Garff,   and  A.  C.  Rees. 

Standing,  left  to  right:  EIRay  L.  Christiansen, 
William  W.  Seegmiller,  Leo  J.  Muir,  Orlando  C. 
Williams,  David  A.  Broadbent,  David  A.  Smith,  W. 
Aird  Macdonald,  Merrill  D.  Clayson,  John  F.  Bowman, 
William  T.  Tew,  Jr.,  Preston  Nibley,  A.  Lorenzo 
Anderson. 

Absent  when  the  picture  was  taken:  President 
Levi   Edgar  Young   and    President   Hugh   B.    Brown. 

Deseret  News  Staff  Photo. 


For  the  second  time  in  twenty- 
two  years,  President  Heber  J.  Grant, 
resting  in  California  after  a  recent 
illness,  was  not  present;  but,  rejoic- 
ing in  the  strength  and  wisdom  of 
his  counselors,  President  J.  Reuben 
Clark,  Jr.,  and  President  David  O. 
McKay,  he  eagerly  followed  con- 
ference proceedings  by  radio.  His 
message  to  the  Latter-day  Saints 
was  read  at  the  opening  session. 
(See  page  267. ) 

With  the  exception  of  the  First 
Presidency,  leading  councils  of  the 
Church  were  fully  represented,  and, 
what  is  unique  in  the  one  hundred 
and  ten  years  of  Church  history,  all 
the  presidents  from  the  European 
and  North  American  missions  were 
in  attendance.  European  mission 
presidents  had  returned  to  the 
United  States  subsequent  to  last 
September's  evacuation  order. 

Conference  addresses,  enriched 
by  the  fresh  narration  of  missionary 
experiences,  dealt  fearlessly  with  is- 
sues of  the  hour  and  treated  with 


Photo    Courtesy    The    Deseret    News. 
PRESIDENT    HEBER    J.    GRANT   PHOTOGRAPHED 
BEFORE  THE   RADIO    IN    LOS  ANGELES,  WHERE 
HE  HEARD  CONFERENCE  SESSIONS. 

equal  forthrightness  themes  of  last- 
ing import — the  Gospel  of  peace,  of 
love,  and  of  faith  and  repentance. 
Messages  heard  at  the  great  general 
gatherings  in  the  Tabernacle  and  in 
special  Priesthood  and  departmental 
sessions  made  the  April  conference 
a  time  of  praise  and  pleading,  of 
encouragement  and  warning,  of  sup- 
plication and  implication.  What 
words  failed  to  convey,  glorious 
music  did:  the  Tabernacle  Choir, 
and  choruses  from  Brigham  Young 
University  and  Ricks  College. 

Bright  with  early  spring  beauty 
and  refreshed  by  nightly  rains, 
Temple  Square  and  the  group  of 
buildings  at  Church  headquarters 
furnished  the  setting  for  the  ex- 
tensive program  of  activities  which 
began  daily  in  the  early  morning 
hours  and  found  delegates  attending 
general  sessions,  departmentals,  spe- 
cial Priesthood  meetings,  seminars, 
Welfare    gatherings,    foreign    Ian- 


268 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


guage  conferences,  reunions,  demon- 
strations, exhibits,  pageants,  con- 
certs, entertainments — a  superlative 
display  of  faith-motivated  "works." 
Notable  was  the  inclusive  exhibit  of 
the  Church  Welfare  Plan  open  daily 
at  the  Bishop's  Central  Storehouse, 
revealing  phases  of  the  work  in  oper- 
ation and  results  of  the  Plan 
throughout  the  stakes  of  the  Church 
during  1939-  The  Genealogical 
Society  of  Utah  commemorated  at 
the  Friday  night  session  the  one 
hundredth  anniversary  of  the  com- 
mencement of  baptisms  for  the  dead 
in  this  dispensation;  the  Primary 
Association  portrayed  its  place  and 
purpose  in  the  program  of  the 
Church;  and  the  Deseret  Sunday 
School  Union  staged  its  demonstra- 
tion as  the  grand  finale  of  the  three 
crowded  days  of  general  conference, 
which  had  been  preceded  by  the  an- 
nual two-day  convention  of  the  Re- 
lief Society. 

For  the  thousands  who  came  from 
far  and  near  to  listen  and  learn,  and 
to  contribute,  the  One  Hundred  and 
Tenth  Annual  General  Conference 
of  the  Church  was  truly  a  time  of 
spiritual  refreshment. 

The  Church  annual  statistical  re- 
port follows: 

ANNUAL  CHURCH  REPORT 

FINANCIAL  STATEMENT 

The  expenditures  by  the  Church  for  the 
year  1939: 

Stake  and  Ward  Purposes 

For  the  erection  of  meeting- 
houses and  for  ward  and 
stake  maintenance  expenses-$l, 544, 357.99 

Missionary  Work 

For  the  maintenance  and  oper- 
ation of  all  the  missions,  and 
for  the  erection  of  places  of 
worship  and  other  buildings 
in  the  missions  1,171,272.56 

Education 

Expended  for  the  maintenance 

of  the  Church  school  system      801,414.73 

Temples 

Expended  for  the  maintenance 

and  operation  of  temples....      239,457.65 

Hospitals 

Expended  for  the  erection  and 
improvement  of  hospital 
buildings  (included  in 
Church  Welfare  Program)         15,183.15 

Relief  Assistance 

For  direct  aid  in  the  care  of 
the  worthy  poor  and  other 


THE  FIRST 
PRESI DENCY 
AS  THEY  AP- 
PEARED IN 
CONSULTATION 
IN  LOS  AN- 
GELES A  FEW 
DAYS  BEFORIE 
THE  GENERAL 
CONFERENCE. 

A.  P.  Photo- 
Pictures  In- 
corporated. 


charitable  purposes,  in- 
cluding hospital  treatment. 
(From  tithing  funds  only. 
Included  in  Church  Welfare 
Program)  429,982.89 

Total .....$4,201 ,668.97 

Which  has  been  taken  from 
the  tithes  and  other  Church 
funds  and  returned  by  the 
Trustee-in-Trust  to  the 
Saints  for  the  maintenance 
and  operation  of  the  stakes 
and  wards,  mission  activi- 
ties, for  the  maintenance 
and  operation  of  Church 
schools  and  temples,  for 
hospital  buildings,  and  relief  •  ■  i  - 
assistance. 

CHURCH  WELFARE  PROGRAM 

Church     membership,     stakes 

and  missions  803,528 

Number  of  Church  members 
who  paid  voluntary  fast  of- 
ferings and  welfare  con- 
tributions to  help  the  needy: 

In  wards 230,528 

In  missions    20,908 

Total 251,436 


Amount  of  voluntary  fast  of- 
ferings and  welfare  contri- 
butions: 

In  wards:  , 

Cash ..$    401,232.71 

Commodities 62,147.55 

In  missions: 
Cash 32,466.07 

Total      (all     expended     for 

relief) $    495,846.33 

Disbursed  to  the  needy  by  the 
Relief  Society  for  direct  as- 
sistance in  their  homes  and 
for  general  welfare  pur- 
poses, such  as  surgical  ap- 
pliances and  preventive  and 
corrective  health  work  $      93,256.25 

For  carrying  on  the  general, 
welfare,  and  educational 
program  of  the  Relief  So- 
ciety        293,305.77 

Expended  from  the  tithes  for 

general  and  local  relief  285,902.89 

(Continued  on  page  314) 
269 


JfaLQjnApihs^&suvL6Jum.0^tPi& 


{  Continued  from  April  issue ) 
HI 

The  Prophet  Joseph  Smith  did 
not  restore  any  of  the  missing  books 
mentioned  in  the  Bible.  On  June  25, 
1 833,  seven  days  before  ceasing  the 
work  of  revision,  the  Prophet  stated 
in  a  communication  to  the  brethren 
in  Zion,  "We  have  not  found  the 
Book  of  Jasher,  nor  any  other  of 
the  lost  books  mentioned  in  the  Bible 
as  yet;  nor  will  we  obtain  them  at 
present."  (History  of  the  Church 
1:363.)  Such  books  as  the  book 
of  Remembrance  kept  in  the  days 
of  Adam,  the  book  of  the  Covenant, 
the  book  of  the  Wars  of  the  Lord, 
the  Acts  of  Uzziah,  the  book  of  the 
Prophet  Shemiah,  the  book  of  Jehu, 
and  others  yet  remain  to  be  restored 
when  the  Lord  deems  it  necessary.2 

The  books  which  are  now  found 
in  the  Bible,  if  they  had  been  col- 
lected into  one  volume  soon  after 
they  were  written  and  while  still  in 
their  original  completeness,  would 
have  formed  a  somewhat  larger 
book  than  the  present  King  James 
version.  The  changes  made  by  the 
Prophet  Joseph  are  primarily  addi- 
tions. He  removed  only  an  extreme- 
ly small  number  of  words  from  the 
text.  This  is  evidence  contrary  to 
the  accepted  axiom  of  textual  criti- 
cism which  holds  that  the  shortest 
manuscript,  other  things  being  equal, 
is  the  most  nearly  correct  and  least 
corrupt  and  that  copyists  have  a 
tendency  to  insert  a  large  amount 
of  new  material.  The  restorations 
by  the  Prophet  are  strong  evidence, 
however,  that  the  Bible,  in  its  long 
process  of  copying  and  translating, 
suffered  reduction  in  word  content 
and  hence  in  meaning  to  an  immeas- 
urably greater  degree  than  it  suffer- 
ed from  spurious  insertions  by  copy- 
ists or  editors. 

Wherever  additions  or  changes 
have  been  made,  the  language  and 
style  used  is  the  same  as  that  of  the 
original  author  in  whose  book  the 
change  is  made,  as  far  as  that  can 
be  determined.  For  example,  all  of 
Isaiah  29  is  in  the  style  of  Isaiah, 
and  the  addition  of  3:24-26  to 
Matthew  is  in  the  manner  of 
Matthew,  and  so  on.  This  is  further 
evidence  that  through  inspiration  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  made  his 
changes  on  the  authority  of  the  or- 

2The  statement  in  the  Epistle  of  Jude,  "And  Enoch 
also,  the  seventh  from  Adam,  prophesied  of  these, 
saying,  Behold,  the  Lord  cometh  \vith  ten  thousand 
of  his  saints,"  finds  no  counterpart  in  the  restorations 
made  by  the  Prophet  of  the  words  of  Enoch.  For  this 
reason,  it  is  probable  that  Jude  was  quoting  from  a 
book  of  Enoch  which  was  widely  known  and  used  in 
the   days  of  the  early   Church. 


BIBLE 

BY 

DR.  SIDNEY  B.  SPERRY 

AND 

MERRILL  Y.  VAN  WAGONER 


iginal,  now  lost,  manuscripts  and 
that  these  interpolations  are  not 
products  of  his  own  imagination. 

The  changes  made  by  the  Proph- 
et are  not  evenly  distributed 
throughout  the  Bible.  In  the  Old 
Testament  the  most  numerous  and 
most  important  are  found  in  Gene- 
sis, where,  besides  restoring  two 
hundred1  verses,  the  Prophet  chang- 
ed one  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
others  by  adding  much  material  to 
them.  The  extent  of  the  restorations 
in  Genesis  is  perhaps  better  illus- 
trated by  stating  that  approximately 
12,650  words  were  added.  In  the 
other  books  of  the  Pentateuch — the 
Hebrew  Law — only  sixty-one  verses 
are  changed,  but  they  likewise  are 
important.  Next  in  importance  in 
number  of  changes  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is  Isaiah,  wherein  one  hun- 
dred, and  fifty-six  verses  were 
changed  to  round  out  the  message 
of  this  great  prophet.  The  twelve 
so-called  minor  prophets,  who  are 
named  thus  not  because  of  the  in- 
significance of  their  work,  but  be- 
cause of  the  small  scope  of  their 
writings  which  have  come  down  to 
us,  received  very  few  changes.  Here 
approximately  eighteen  verses  only 
were  altered  and  in  most  instances 
the  changes  were  of  slight  impor- 
tance. 


When  the  Prophet  came  to  the 
Psalms,  which  contain  some  of  the 
most  difficult  Hebrew  texts  in  the 
Bible,  he  made  changes  in  forty-six 
of  the  total  one  hundred  and  fifty, 
changing  some  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three  verses.  The  changes  vary 
from  complete  rearrangement  of  the 
material  to  the  correction  of  a  single 
word. 

A  very  unusual  series  of  changes 
was  made  in  the  seventh  chapter  of 
Nehemiah,  where  the  numbers  of  the 
individuals  who  came  out  of  captiv- 
ity from  Babylon  were  changed  in 
about  twenty-one  verses. 

Over  twice  as  many  verses  were 
changed  in  the  New  Testament  as 
in  the  Old,  with  approximately  1 ,453 
changed  verses  for  the  former  and 
six  hundred  and  ninety-three  for  the 
latter.  This  is  perhaps  due  to  the 
greater  care  taken  of  the  Hebrew 
scriptures  in  contrast  to  the  long  pe- 
riod of  change  and  confusion  sus- 
tained by  the  manuscripts  of  the 
New  Testament.  The  changes  found 
in  the  four  Gospels  account  for 
1 ,036  altered  verses,  with  four  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  changed  verses 
in  Acts,  the  Epistles,  and  Revela- 
tion together.  More  changes  were 
made  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  than 
in  the  other  three  Gospels  combined, 
with  five  hundred  and  fifty-one  of 
the  1,071  verses  of  Matthew,  or  in 
other  words  over  half  of  the  Gospel 
of  Matthew,  being  changed.  The 
three  other  Gospels  contain  a  fairly 
even  number  of  changes.  Of  the 
other  sections  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, only  the  Second  and  Third 
Epistles  of  John  were  not  revised 
by  the  Prophet. 

There  is  a  qualitative  difference 


>f  .   CHAPTER  VII, 

lj  I  Moses  is  encouraged  to  go  to  Plra"raoH,*..7  Mis  ago...,10  His 
I     rod  is  turned  into  a  serpent....!  S  Pharaoh's  heart  is  harden- 
ed....! 9:  The  river  is  tarried  Into  hfeod.  • 

I  have 


"'   ND  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
made  thee* 


i'A 


3f 

and 


lifofi  thy 


A  PART  OF  EX- 
ODUS 7,  TAKEN 
FROM  THE  OLD 
FAMILY  BIBLE 

USED  BY  JOSEPH 
SMITH  IN  HIS  RE- 
VISION OF  THE 
BIBLE.  NOTE  THE 
MARKS  BEFORE 
AND  AFTER  THE 
VERSES  NEEDING 
CORRECTION.  PHO- 
TOGRAPH, PAGE 
.271,  INDICATES 
THE  REVISIONS 
THAT  WERE  MADE. 


a  god  to  Pharaon 
|  brother  shall  he  b  thy  prophet.  MV 
J  V2  Thou  shaltc  speak  ail  that  I  com&aBdlhec ;  ami 
I  Aaron  thy  brother  shall  speak  unto  Pharaokihat  he 
$  send  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  his  land.v 
I  w3  And  I  will d  harden:  Pharaoh's  heart,  and  mul f i pi y 
I  my e  signs  and  my  wonders  in  the  land  of  Egypt  | 
1 t#4  But  Pharaoh  shall  not  hearken  unto  yon,  tin 
I  may  lay f  my  hand  ppon  Egypt,  and  brine;  forth ?  m 
|  armies,  and  my  people  the  children  of  Israel  out  of 
I  the  land  of  Egypt  by  k  great  judgments*  && 
|    5  And  the  Egyptians  i  shall  know  that  Yam  the 

LorDj  when  I  stretch  forth  mine  hand  upon  Egypt, 

and  bring  out  the  children  of  Israel  from  among 

diem. 

;■■.  0  And  Moses  and  Aaron  did  as  the  Lord  com- 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


between  the  changes  made  in  the 
Old  and  those  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Those  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  essentially  additions  of  material 
to  a  text  which  is  already  readable 
and  comparatively  plain.  In  con- 
trast, anyone  who  has  read  the  New 
Testament,  especially  the  Epistles, 
will  admit  that  he  has  been  confront- 
ed by  passages  of  great  complexity, 
with  frequent  contradictions  and 
obscure  phrases.  Here,  as  we  expect, 
the  changes  have,  in  practically 
every  instance,  served  to  untangle 
the  text  and  lay  open  the  meaning 
of  the  New  Testament  scriptures  to 
full  view. 

SUMMARY  OF  CHANGES  IN  THE 
INSPIRED  REVISION3 

Old  Testament:                  Verses  Verses 

Added  Changed 

Law  200  249 

Prophets: 

Major 2  228 

Minor 18 

Writings  198 

Total  Old  Testament 202  693 

New  Testament: 

Gospels  76  1036 

Epistles,  etc. 3  417 

Total  New  Testament....  79  1453 

Total  Bible  281  2146 


A  PHOTOGRAPH  OF  &**£**?    £  #4**«~£    t+~tc~  *s(c~~*.  -Z^V    ^^^^    £*.  My  sjL^.* 
THE  REVISIONS  C&  S    ,J-     s      ^  s-^S-+  ~S  ^ 

*». ,  (XZ%*a~t*~     ^sfte^r   iS/ZcjLtvTC      4i.?*ib         "^J?        •&*+-Zfx*^     fc^       ^3l+Sc.'6>  >•><>?*'— * 


MADE       BY       THE-"* 

PROPHET    OF     EX-      v^-        .   -, 

0DUS  7.      IT  WILL    *^ V  *~^  e- 

ALSO      BE      NOTED     y        ^        .       *^-        S  <s"        ,    ^AS^      ,  _jft  v      „ 

THAT     EXODUS     8    **~    ^^"^     -**"*-  c-**S***~>  ofU+iojU.    t^r-r&t.^    /£^,»c» 

TO*  BECC0NRSRECT.ED     ^  &&**£.  ^**&~*~  ^M^Q&. 


,  ri>*TF 


,IX  _    qj?/<u/*£c 


IV 


T 


HE  restorations  made  by  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  in  the  In- 
spired Revision  show  that  two  major 
types  of  change  took  place  in  the 
Bible  from  the  time  of  its  origin  to 
the  present.  We  may  call  them  un- 
planned and  planned  changes.  The 
unplanned  changes  occur  most  fre- 
quently but  it  is  the  planned  changes 
which  are  of  prime  importance. 

An  important  point  to  be  empha- 
sized here  is  the  fact  that  the  schol- 
ars who  labored  at  the  command  of 
King  James  in  161 1  to  translate  the 
Bible  into  English  were  honest  and 
painstaking  in  their  work.  Compari- 
son of  their  translation  and  of  the 
manuscripts  they  had  in  their  pos- 
session shows  that  they  usually 
translated  correctly  as  far  as  they 
were  able  to  do  so.  They  made  few 
changes  with  the  exception  of  add- 
ing the  italicized  words  as  demand- 
ed by  the  English  idiom.  Most 
changes  or  corruptions  took  place 
long  before  their  time  since  schol- 
ars agree  that  the  Hebrew  books,  as 
we  know  them  today,  have  been 
handed  down  to  us  without  materi- 
al change  since  100  A.D.  Of  course, 

3Figures  are  closely  approximate.  Only  those  verses 
have  been  considered  which  show  a  definite  change. 
Verses  wherein  the  variation  consisted  simply  in  a 
spelling  change,  such  as  shew  to  show,  or  change  of 
a  preposition,  such  as  inro  to  in,  etc,  have  not  been 
included  in  the  above  table  as  they  are  due  to  the 
edition  of  the  Bible  used  and  not  to  the  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith. 


modern  scholars  now  have  a  much 
better  command  of  Hebrew  and 
source  material  than  did  the  King 
James  translators. 

The  unplanned  changes  resulted 
from  man's  inefficiency  and  the 
frailty  of  writing  materials.  They 
came  as  a  matter  of  course  in  the 
process  of  copying,  preserving,  and 
translating  the  original  manuscripts. 
Words,  phrases,  and  sentences  were 
passed  over  by  the  copyist  or  be- 
came obscured  in  the  old  manu- 
scripts. The  result  was  either  an 
abbreviated  account  or  else  a  mean- 
ingless skeleton  of  the  original  text. 

An  example  of  abbreviated  text 
may  be  found  in  Genesis  14:18.  It 
reads : 

And  Melchizedek  king  of  Salem  brought 
forth  bread  and  wine:  and  he  was  the  priest 
of  the  Most  High  God. 

The  Inspired  Revision  renders  it: 

And  Melchisedek,  king  of  Salem,  brought 
forth  bread  and  wine:  and  he  break  bread 
and  blest  it;  and  he  blest  the  wine,  he  being 
the  priest  of  the  most  high  God.  (I.  R., 
Genesis  14:17.)4 

For  some  reason  or  another  the 
words  and  he  break  bread  and  blest 
it;  and  he  blest  the  wine  no  longer 
are  found  in  the  Hebrew  text. 

An  example  of  meaningless  text 
is  found  in  Philippians  1:21: 

For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is 
gain. 

This  verse  (I.  R.,  1:22)  is  given 

by    the    Prophet    Joseph    Smith    as 

follows : 

For  me  to  live,  is  to  do  the  will  of  Christ; 
and  to  die,  is  my  gain. 

In  this  the  process  of  change  is 
easily  traceable.  A  few  of  the  orig- 
inal words  survived,  but  the  mean- 
ing was  destroyed. 

4I.  R.  throughout  refers  to  the  Inspired  Revision  of 
the  Bible,  now  published  by  the  Reorganized  Church 
under   the    title.  Holy    Scriptures. 


On  the  other  hand,  the  planned 
changes  resulted  from  man's  delib- 
erate altering  of  the  original  text  and 
meaning  to  serve  his  own  purposes 
and  not  to  preserve  the  words  of  the 
Lord.  (See  Pearl  of  Great  Price, 
Moses  1:41.)  As  well  as  being 
made  known  to  Moses,  this  was  also 
made  known  to  Nephi,  who  beheld 
in  a  vision  the  changes  which  were 
to  be  made  in  the  Bible.  He  saw  a 
book  proceeding  from  the  mouth  of 
a  Jew,  and  that  it  then  contained 
"the  plainness  of  the  gospel  of  the 
Lord,  of  whom  the  twelve  apostles 
bear  record."  He  saw  that  "many 
parts  which  are  plain  and  most  pre- 
cious" were  taken  away  to  pervert 
the  right  ways  of  the  Lord  and  blind 
the  eyes  and  harden  the  hearts  of 
the  children  of  men.  He  then  saw 
the  Bible  come  to  America,  where 
many  erred  because  of  the  plain  and 
precious  things  having  been  taken 
out  of  it.  Finally  he  saw  the  coming 
forth  of  the  Book  of  Mormon  to 
establish  the  truth  of  the  Bible.  (I 
Nephi  13:23-29,38-40.) 

It  is  not  known  who  made  these 
sweeping  changes  of  text  and  doc- 
trine or  when  they  were  made.  The 
original  manuscripts  have  all  dis- 
appeared. The  earliest  Hebrew 
manuscript  of  any  considerable  part 
of  the  Bible  does  not  go  beyond  the 
tenth  century  A.  D.  Hence,  there  is 
a  gap  of  over  a  thousand  years  be- 
tween the  oldest  important  extant 
Hebrew  manuscripts  and  the  latest 
of  the  books  contained  in  it.  A  few 
fragments  of  the  New  Testament 
go  back  as  early  as  the  third  cen- 
tury A.  D.,  but  it  is  estimated  that 
at  least  ninety-six  per  cent  of  the 
extant  manuscripts  of  the  Greek 
New  Testament  are  later  than  the 
eighth  century  A.D. 

(To  be  Continued) 

271 


MOON  LAKE  STAKE  REPORTS 


AT  THE  beginning  of  our  Welfare 
program  we  found  that  a  great 
many  of  our  members  were  very 
much  dissatisfied  and  discouraged.  A 
feeling  of  unrest  was  among  them,  and 
they  felt  that  to  better  their  living  con- 
ditions, they  must  leave  our  stake  and 
find  new  homes  elsewhere. 

This  feeling  spread  so  rapidly  that  it 
became  alarming,  and  caused  the  stake 
presidency,  Priesthood  quorum  leaders, 
Welfare  workers,  and  bishops  of  wards, 
great  concern. 

To  determine  the  cause  for  this  un- 
rest, a  survey  was  made  which  dis- 
closed these  facts :  80  %  of  the  farms  of 
our  stake  had  been  sold  for  taxes;  only 
2%  followed  a  system  of  farming;  few 
had  done  very  little  fall  plowing  or  made 
plans  for  spring  planting;  little  consider- 
ation was  given  to  the  adaptability  of 
seeds  for  our  section  of  the  state,  many 
just  planting  anything  to  cover  the  soil. 
The  result  of  such  farming  gave  but 
small  return,  making  it  necessary  to  ship 
in  to  our  people  the  following  in  one 
year: 

$17,800.00  in  canned  vegetables;  $7,000.00 
in  bakery  bread;  200  tons  of  flour,  50  tons 
of  breakfast  bacon,  85  tons  of  salt  side. 

All  of  these  should  and  could  have 
been  produced  at  home  with  a  saving  of 
thousands  of  dollars.  New  homes  could 
be  built,  remodeling  done,  better  cloth- 
ing bought,  and  in  general  home  con- 
ditions much  improved. 

To  remedy  this  condition  and  make 
our  people  self-sustaining,  stake  and 
ward  committees  were  formed,  these, 
of  course,  to  work  under  the  direction 
of  the  Agricultural  committee  of  the 
Welfare  Plan. 

A  survey  of  the  farms  was  made  to 
determine  what  seeds  were  best  adapt- 
ed for  each  ward.  Trucks  were  sent 
to  Salt  Lake  to  obtain  certified  seeds 
of  various  kinds.  Realizing  the  costli- 
ness of  good  seed,  the  committee  was 
very  careful  in  placing  the  seed  with 
brethren  who  would  take  good  care  of 
it,  and  in  selecting  plots  of  ground 
adapted  for  seed-raising. 

During  the  growing  season  the  select- 
ed plots  of  ground  were  watched  very 
carefully,  and  at  harvest  time  we  were 
rewarded  with  an  excellent  variety  of 
good  seed  for  next  season's  planting. 

Last  season  the  acreage  had  so  in- 
creased, and  the  demand  for  better  seed 
become  so  great  that  we  had  to  buy  for 
distribution  an  additional  $2,360  worth 
of  good  seed. 

This  spring  the  acreage  is  still  further 
increased,  but  it  is  not  needful  to  buy 
much  outside  seed  as  we  are  making  an 
exchange  among  ourselves.  The  wheat 
yield  has  so  increased  that  it  is  not 
needful  to  ship  in  a  pound  of  flour,  and 
a  good  supply  is  now  on  hand.  Two 
years  ago  23,000  bushels  of  wheat  were 
milled;  last  year  55,000  bushels  were 
milled,  representing  an  increase  of 
32,000  bushels.  Much  of  this  increase, 
however,  was  due  to  an  increased  water 

272 


GdtiswsivnsLnL 

Reported  by  Edwin  L.  Murphy, 
President  of  Moon  Lake  Stake,  at 
General  Welfare  Meeting,  April 
6,  1940,  in  the  Assembly  Hall, 
Salt  Lake  City, 

supply  from  the  Moon  Lake  reservoir. 
A  decrease  of  75%  of  canned  to- 
matoes, corn,  peas,  etc.,  is  now  sent 
into  our  stake.  The  sisters  are  putting 
up  their  own.  Our  Agricultural  and 
Welfare  committees  have  worked  out 
a  plan  whereby  the  wards  where  to- 
matoes grow  well  can  exchange  for 
peas,  corn,  beans,  etc.,  from  other  wards 
where  these  products  grow  well. 

Plans  are  now  under  way  for  a  small 
cannery,  which  will  make  these  ex- 
changes easier. 

In  order  to  carry  our  Agricultural 
plans  out  as  we  desired,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  buy  better  and  more  machinery, 
so  we  bought  cooperatively  with  a 
saving  of  $2,365.00  last  year. 

In  order  to  get  more  fall  plowing 
done,  the  committee  met  with  the  Relief 
Society  sisters  and  asked  them  to  talk 
fall  plowing  to  their  husbands. 

Our  committee  found  that  our  great- 
est income  was  from  dairy  products, 
and  not  being  satisfied  with  the  price 
received  for  these  products  we  organ- 
ized a  cream  pool  and  sold  to  one 
creamery,  thus  getting  a  better  price. 
In  five  months  the  organization  paid  to 
the  producers  $4,020.00  as  participating 
dividends.  Our  committee  is  now  plan- 
ning a  creamery  of  our  own. 

To  better  our  dairy  herds  we  have 
culled  our  feeders  and  formed  bull 
blocks,  having  three  Durhams,  two  Jer- 
seys, three  Holsteins,  and  two  Hereford 
bulls. 

Feed  yards  have  been  established  to 
handle  our  supplies  of  hay  and  grain 
feed  for  livestock,  thereby  putting  on 
the  market  a  finished  product.  The 
brethren  who  have  done  this  report  that 
a  much  higher  price  is  obtained  for  their 
feed,  as  well  as  for  the  livestock  sold. 
Our  Priesthood  quorums  and  Agricul- 
tural committee  have  tested  various 
feeds  as  to  cost  of  production  and  feed 
value. 

The  Relief  Society  sisters  have  been 
solidly  behind  our  Agriculture  and  Wel- 
fare plan.  For  the  Welfare  last  year 
they  made  forty- two  quilts,  eighteen 
being  sent  to  Salt  Lake  City.  They 
have  gone  from  house  to  house  helping 
the  sick  and  needy,  and  bettering  liv- 
ing conditions. 

The  adult  Aaronic  Priesthood  have 
played  a  big  part  in  putting  our  program 
over.  In  cooperative  farming,  meeting- 
house beautification,  etc.,  they  have 
contributed  40%  of  the  cash  outlay, 
and  50%  of  the  labor.  By  doing  so  a 
25%  advancement  in  Priesthood  activ- 
ities has  been  brought  about. 


Two  of  our  bishops,  some  time  ago, 
felt  so  discouraged  that  they  asked  to 
be  released,  but  later  they  took  hold 
of  our  Church  plan,  and  soon  had  men 
coming  to  Church  who  had  not  been 
inside  a  meetinghouse  for  years. 

During  the  past  year  the  Priesthood 
has  built  two  homes  for  brethren  whose 
homes  have  been  destroyed  by  fire 
They  accomplished  this  by  going  into 
the  mountains  and  getting  out  logs, 
having  them  sawed,  and  doing  the 
building  themselves. 

The  Priesthood  has  purchased  one 
acre  of  ground  at  Altamont  on  which 
our  storehouse  is  to  be  built.  Just 
across  the  street  our  stake  is  purchas- 
ing eighty  acres  of  land.  We  are  cen- 
tering on  this  plot  of  ground,  building 
all  our  enterprises  there.  We  have  a 
color  scheme  and  all  buildings  will  be 
painted  alike.  One  of  our  committees, 
working  for  better  home  conditions, 
made  arrangements  for  government 
aid  in  an  electrification  program,  and 
now  ninety  percent  of  our  homes  have 
electric  power. 

Our  road  conditions  were  bad,  so  we 
appointed  a  committee  to  meet  with  the 
state  highway  commission,  county  com- 
missioners, and  others,  and  after  many 
meetings  our  main  county  road  was 
made  an  auxiliary  state  highway. 
Now  we  have  a  good  gravel  road  to 
Highway  40. 

At  the  present  time  we  have  another 
committee  working  on  the  housing 
problem. 

In  the  mountains  north  of  us  is  an 
abundance  of  timber.  This  we  plan,  by 
working  cooperatively,  to  put  into  the 
sawmill  to  be  sawed  and  planed  by  a 
quorum  group  and  made  ready  for  new 
homes.  Through  the  exchange  of  labor, 
we  shall  be  able  to  get  our  building  ma- 
terials with  very  little  cash  outlay. 

The  "touching  of  shoulders,"  the 
brotherly  feeling  that  this  work  has 
brought  about,  not  counting  dollars  and 
cents,  is  payment  in  full  for  all  effort 
put  forth  in  bettering  our  living  con- 
ditions. And  today  instead  of  the 
county  owning  eighty  percent  of  our 
land,  our  homes,  this  figure  has  been 
substantially  reduced  by  cooperation  of 
all  agencies  concerned. 

To  summarize: 

We  have  made  notable  progress  by 
cooperation  of  the  stake  Agricultural 
Committee,  Priesthood  quorums,  Relief 
Societies,  other  Church  auxiliaries,  Ex- 
tension Service,  Farm  Security  Admin- 
istration, County  Commission,  etc.,  in 
applying  a  planned  economy  to  family 
living  on  the  farm.  We  have  attempted 
to  put  in  operation  the  five -point  pro- 
gram recommended  by  the  General 
Church  Welfare  Committee,  namely: 

1.  Conservation  of  our  resources. 

2.  Production  of  more  profitable  crops. 

3.  Cooperative  producing  and  marketing. 

4.  Assisting  men  to  become  farm  owners. 

5.  Making  farm  life  more  attractive. 


WELFARE  PROGRESS-1939 


That  substantial  progress  was 
made  in  the  Church  Welfare 
Plan  during  1939  is  evidenced 
by  the  reports  given  during  the  re- 
cent General  Conference.  Among 
the  objectives  to  be  attained  by  the 
Welfare  Plan  are  the  following: 

1st:  A  development  of  the  true  law  of 
Christian  giving  and  receiving.  During 
1939,  251,436  persons  paid  fast  offerings 
and  welfare  contributions.     This  is  an  in- 


LU  lULo  -U   U  Off.,- 

im^/   Ana     wolj'At'e;   LoturlourfoK./". 


2.51, 43& 


LL 


W 


1955 


crease  of  66,681  over  1938.  That  means 
that  on  an  average,  more  than  one  person 
in  every  family  of  the  Church  contributed 
to  the  Welfare  Plan  through  their  offerings. 

2nd:  The  privilege  and  duty  of  fasting 
and  the  payment  of  fast  offerings.  There 
has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the  average 
amount  paid  by  the  members  of  the  Church 
since   the   Welfare  Plan  was  inaugurated. 


U/t  0|[«JMK.ci.'     tor  Lap°iIa 


jlLL 

1335        W        \°)V\         Yffl        W 


4^4 

1 


In  1935,  the  year  before  the  plan  was  an- 
nounced, the  average  per  capita  for  Church 
membership  was  22c.  In  1939,  the  average 
was  82.2c  per  capita.  This  is  an  increase 
of  9c  over  1938,  and  27c  over  1937. 

3rd:  The  responsibility  of  Priesthood 
quorums,  Relief  Society  organizations,  and 
other  ward  and  stake  units  to  accept  and 
fulfil  definite  and  productive  welfare  assign- 
ments. This  responsibility  was  discharged 
more  fully  during  1939  than  during  any 
other  period  of  which  we  have  a  record. 
Among  the  items  produced  were  the  fol- 
lowing: 


BY 
ROSCOE  W.  EARDLEY 

Church  Storehouse  Supervisor 


Flour  and  grain  1,077,517  lbs. 

Sugar  beets  1,974  tons 

Potatoes  and  vegetables 2,603,808  lbs. 

Canned  fruits  and  vegetables    900,909  cans 

Meat  and  dairy  products 301,728  lbs. 

Cash .410,515.30 

The  canning  operations  which  were  car- 
ried on  largely  under  the  direction  of  the 
Relief  Societies,  increased  in  1938,  194% 
over   1937;   and  in    1939,  34%   over    1938. 


M 

1537 


1 


Wb 


This  part  of  the  program  has  now  developed 
to  the  point  where  the  needs  of  the  Welfare 
Plan  can  be  easily  provided  for.    There  was 


TmnueeJ     &*&    Corytxoautt;^- 

50%    mcr^A/d1 


I 


1536 


an  increase  in  produce  and  commodities  of 
58%  in  1939,  over  1938. 

4th:  The  furnishing  of  opportunities  to 
those  who  are  being  benefited  under  the 
Welfare  Plan  to  assist  in  the  production  both 
for  themselves  and  for  others  of  food,  cloth- 
ing, and  other  necessities  essential  to  health 
and  comfort.  There  was  a  noticeable  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  persons  participat- 
ing in  welfare  projects.     Reports  from  the 


iKotcJct  fcritplovjntOtU 


J 


W& 


1939 


various  stakes  indicate  that  on  an  average 
65%  more  persons  were  engaged  on  these 
projects  in  1939  than  in  1938. 

5th:  The  responsibility  of  all,  and  espe- 
cially of  Priesthood  quorums,  to  assist 
worthy  members  of  the  Church  who  are 
not  employed  to  find  gainful  work,  and  to 
assist  in  the  general  rehabilitation  of  those 
in  need.  Although  the  employment  sta- 
tistics are  not  as  comprehensive  as  other 
parts  of  the  Welfare  Plan,  it  would  seem 
from  the  information  available  that  there 
was  a  noticeable  increase  in  the  number  of 
persons  who  were  assisted  to  find  employ- 
ment in  private  industry,  and  also  in  the 
number  who  were  helped  to  reestablish 
themselves  in  small  business  pursuits  or 
agricultural  projects.  The  number  of  un- 
employed employable  persons  seems  to  have 
decreased  26%  in  1939,  as  compared  with 
1938. 

6th:  To  produce  within  the  Welfare 
Plan  those  commodities  needed  for  distri- 
bution to  the  worthy  needy  and  the  unem- 
ployed who  are  assisting  in  welfare  pro- 
jects. There  was  a  marked  increase  in  the 
variety,  as  well  as  the  quantity,  of  items 
produced.  Plans  have  already  been  per- 
fected to  continue  this  development  and  it 
is  expected  that  during  1940,  at  least  75% 
of  all  items  distributed  through  our  store- 
houses will  be  produced  within  the  Welfare 
Plan  itself. 

7th:  The  responsibility  of  the  bishops 
and  presidents  of  Relief  Societies  and  of 
bishop's  counselors,  who  have  direct  charge 
of  bishop's  storehouses,  to  distribute 
promptly  and  without  waste  the  things  that 
have  been  produced  to  those  in  need,  Dur- 
ing 1939,  the  number  of  storehouses  in- 
creased to  seventy-one.  The  management 
of  storehouses  increased  in  efficiency,  and 
the  work  of  the  Relief  Society  organizations, 
which  is  charged  particularly  with  family 
analysis  and  determining  of  needs  of  fam- 
ilies, grew  in  importance  as  well  as  effi- 
ciency. 

At  the  present  time  there  are 
enough  foods,  commodities,  clothing, 
and  fuel  on  hand  to  take  care  of  our 
present  load  until  the  new  harvest 
shall  come  in  this  fall.  Budget  as- 
signments for  the  winter  storage 
period,  beginning  October  1,  1940, 
have  been  made  and  are  now  being 
carried  out  throughout  the  Church. 

The  Welfare  Plan  is  moving  for- 
ward to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Pre- 
siding Authorities  and  all  who  are 
associated  with  it. 

273 


Fledglings 


"B, 


_  'iscuits?"  Dan  said. 
"On  a  day  like  this?  Great  scott, 
Lucy,  it's  a  hundred  and  two  in  the 
shade!" 

Lucy  glanced  up  briefly  from  the 
floured  board  and  smiled  at  him.  Her 
face  was  damp  and  rosy  from  the 
heat;  her  gray  hair  clung  in  little 
wisps  to  her  forehead  and  her  cheek. 
"The  boys  like  them  so  well,  Dan. 
I  don't  mind." 

"When  I  was  young,"  Dan  grunt- 
ed, "I  ate  what  was  set  before  me." 

He  seated  himself  heavily  in  his 
usual  place  beside  the  kitchen  table. 
From  his  pockets  he  drew  the  in- 
evitable travel  folders,  and  loosening 
his  tie,  he  settled  himself  and  began 
to  study  them. 

The  smile  on  Lucy's  lips  slid  to 
her  eyes  as  she  watched  him.  Dear 
Dan,  trying  to  be  gruff;  as  if  she 
didn't  know  the  whole  purpose  of  his 
days  was  to  see  that  his  children 
didn't  know  the  harshness,  the  pov- 
erty, the  fierce  struggle  of  his  own 
youth. 

She  went  across  the  kitchen  and 
kissed  his  shaggy  hair,  touching  a 
folder  lightly  with  a  floured  finger. 
"California?"  she  smiled.  "Do  you 
suppose  it's  really  as  wonderful  as 
they  say?"  She  watched  his  slow 
grin  deepen  the  lines  around  his  eyes. 

"Either  it  is  or  they  have  some 
wonderful  liars,"  he  chuckled. 

Lucy  went  back  to  the  biscuits. 
She  sighed.  They  would  go,  of 
course,  some  day.  Always  they  had 
planned  this  visit  to  far  places.  But 
not  yet.  Not  while  the  children 
needed  them.  Of  course,  Susannah 
was  married  .  .  .  the  ache  that  her 
going  had  left  stirred  in  Lucy's 
breast.  But  there  was  Joel.  He  must 
have  another  chance  at  college.  He 
wouldn't  fail  again  .  .  .  and  Dale. 

Dale  and  Carla  would  be  married 
soon,  now  that  Dale's  success  was 
assured.  Lucy  cut  the  biscuits  into 
neat  little  discs.  It  had  not  been 
easy,  persuading  them  to  wait. 
"With  both  of  us  working,"  Dale 
had  cried,  "it  will  be  easy.  We'll  get 
along."  But  it  was  Dale  who  had 
seen  how  impossible  it  would  be. 
How  it  might  hold  him  back,  a 
lawyer  just  beginning.  Dale,  who 
had  raged  at  first,  had  turned  to 
Carla.  "They're  right,  darling.  A 
single  fellow  can  get  in  with  more 
people.  But  I'll  work  like  fury. 
We'll  be  married  the  first  biq  case 
I  get. 
274 


JOCMApk/WjUA,  paJdA. 


By  MARGE  STEWART 


"YOU  DIDN'T  WANT  US  TO  GET  MARRIED 
FIVE  YEARS  AGO.  YOU  WOULDN'T  LET  US 
WORK  IT  OUT.  WE  WOULD  HAVE  WON 
THROUGH  THEN.  OH,  WHY  DIDN'T  YOU 
LEAVE  US  ALONE?" 


Remembering  that  day,  Lucy  did 
not  hear  the  cab  drive  up,  or  Su- 
sannah's high,  clear  voice.  Dan 
heard  it.  He  stood  up  quickly,  all 
the  bright  folders  slipping  from  his 
fingers  to  the  floor.  He  said,  his 
voice  bewildered,  "It's  Susannah! 
She's  here?" 

"But  Susannah's  in  Chicago.  Dan, 
.  .  ."  Lucy  stopped  short,  her  heart 
beginning  a  new  and  singing  beat, 
knowing  her  daughter's  step  upon 
the  porch,  knowing  the  very  slam  of 
the  screen  door  as  Susannah's  own. 
"Susannah,"  she  whispered  and  ran 
out  of  the  kitchen,  through  the  din- 
ing room  to  the  wide  front  hall. 

It  was  Susannah,  tall  and  slim  and 
lovely  in  a  sheer  blue  dress  and  a 
smart,  white  hat.  Susannah,  her 
gentian  blue  eyes,  swimming  with 
tears,  coming  in  a  little  rush  to  bury 
her  head  on  Lucy's  shoulder. 

Lucy  made  small  murmurings  in 
her  throat. 

Dan  said,  "Bless  my  soul,  Susan- 
nah. We  can't  have  this.  Come 
and  tell  your  old  dad  all  about  it." 
He  held  out  his  arms,  and  the  girl 
turned  and  stumbled  into  them. 


^K,SMin* 


"I  couldn't  bear  it,"  she  wailed, 
her  words  muffling  themselves  into 
his  shoulder.  "It  was  hot  in  that 
stuffy  apartment,  and  I  didn't  know 
anyone,  and  .  .  .  and  I'm  going  to 
have  a  baby!" 

There  was  stillness  in  the  hallway. 
"A  baby!"  thought  Lucy.  "My 
Susannah  with  a  baby?"  She  lifted 
her  eyes  to  Dan,  to  share  the  wonder 
of  this  moment  with  him. 

Dan  said  gravely,  "I'm  very  glad 
for  you,  Susannah,"  and  then,  with 
a  note  in  his  voice  that  Lucy  had 
never  heard  before,  "But  Ted? 
Wouldn't  he  rather  have  you  with 
him?    Won't  he  worry?" 

"I  don't  care,"  said  Susannah,  re- 
sentment in  the  words.  "I'm  not  go- 
ing back.  I  told  Ted  if  he  wanted  to 
keep  me,  he'd  have  to  come  here. 
He  could  get  a  job.     I'm  not  going 


back.  I  don't  have  to.  You'll  take 
care  of  me." 

Lucy  saw  Dan's  mouth  straighten. 
He  dropped  his  arms  from  Susan- 
nah's shoulder.  He  mustn't,  she 
thought  with  sudden  panic,  be  angry 
with  her.  She's  so  young.  We've 
protected  her  so.  She's  never 
known  a  single  heartache,  until  now. 

She  spoke  quickly,  gathering  her 
daughter  into  her  arms.  "Of  course, 
you'll  stay  here.  Isn't  this  your 
home?"  And  then  to  Dan,  "Ted  will 
come.     You'll  see." 

"Yes,"  said  Dan  heavily,  "he'll 
come.  It  would  take  a  terribly  strong 
man  to  lick  a  combination  like  this." 

Aires  screamed  in  the 
driveway  and  a  car  door  slammed. 
"The  boys,"  said  Lucy.  "Won't 
they  be  surprised?  Wipe  your  eyes, 
dear." 

They  came  in,  Dale  and  Joel,  and 
Lucy's  pride  in  them  was  like  a  ban- 
ner flying.  They  were  like  Dan,  tall 
and  square-jawed  and  big  boned. 
Dale's  eyes  were  like  Dan's  too,  blue 
and  deep-set  under  heavy  brows. 
He  stared  at  Susannah.  "When  did 
you  get  here?    Where's  the  groom?" 

"I've  left  him,"  said  Susannah 
flatly. 

"Tough  luck.  I  thought  you  and 
he  would  hit  it  off.  He's  a  swell 
fellow." 

Her  small  face  hardened.  "I  take 
it  you    don't   think  I'm  so   swell?" 


She  turned  away  from  him  to  her 
younger  brother.  "Joel,  you  haven't 
said  you're  glad  to  see  me?" 

Joel  flung  a  tennis  racket  into  a 
corner.  He  kissed  her  lightly  on  the 
cheek.  "Sure  I  am,  Susannah.  Sorry 
about  Ted,  though."  He  turned  to 
Lucy,  "I'm  starved,  Mom." 

"My  biscuits!"  cried  Lucy  and 
scurried  to  the  kitchen,  the  starched 
gingham  of  her  dress  rustling  as  she 
ran.  She  took  the  pan  out  of  the 
oven  and  went  to  the  cupboard  for 
plates.  She  leaned  her  head  against 
the  too  high  shelf.  "Home,"  she 
whispered,  and  tears  stung  under  her 
lids,  "the  place  that  Dan  and  I  have 
made  for  them.  Oh,  it's  worth  it 
all,  the  struggle,  the  worry  ...  a 
place  for  our  children  to  come  when 
they  are  troubled  and  afraid." 

The  dining  table  was  lovely  with 
its  snowy  cloth  and  yellow  candles. 
The  boys  ate  heartily,  and  Susannah 
nibbled  daintily  on  salad  and  toast. 
Lucy  could  not  eat  at  all  for  joy  of 
having  her  there,  so  lovely  and  un- 
changed. There  were  no  traces  now 
of  the  tears  she  had  shed.  Her  face 
was  smooth;  her  eyes  starry  with 
excitement. 

"I  want  to  know  everything  that's 
happened  in  the  whole  year  I've  been 
gone,"  she  cried,  and  turned  to  Dale. 
"How  goes  the  law?  Are  you  mak- 
ing enough  to  pay  the  telephone? 
Or  is  Dad  still  footing  the  bill?" 

"Don't  tell  me  you  haven't  heard?" 
Joel  demanded  before  his  brother 
could  speak.  "Dale  just  won  a  case. 
Tomorrow  he's  getting  a  check  for 
five  hundred  dollars,  and  Hardy  and 
Baxter  are  giving  him  another  big 
case.    Yep,  Dale's  getting  up  speed." 

"Five  hundred  dollars,"  breathed 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


Susannah,  "But  that's  wonderful, 
Dale!  Now  you  and  Carla  can  get 
married." 

"Yep,"  said  Joel,  and  helped  him- 
self to  mashed  potatoes,  "the  gal's 
patience  is  rewarded.  A  wedding 
ring  for  five  years  of  waiting." 

Dale  glared  at  his  brother,  and 
Lucy  spoke  quickly,  "Are  you  ready 
for  dessert?"  She  changed  their 
plates.  Dan's,  she  noticed,  was 
scarcely  touched.  She  followed  his 
eyes  to  Susannah,  and  gave  his 
shoulder  a  pat. 

Joel  gulped  his  apple  pie,  and 
pushed  back  his  chair.  "How's  the 
chances  for  a  new  tennis  racket, 
Dad?  Mine's  shot,  and  I'll  need  a 
new  one  for  the  finals." 

Dan  shook  his  head,  "You  won't 
have  to  worry  about  the  finals,  son. 
I've  some  good  news  for  you.  Pete 
Morris  says  he  has  a  place  for 
you.  ..." 

"Office  work!"  Joel's  voice  was 
heavy  with  derision,  "I'm  not  going 
to  be  any  old  white  collar  guy.  .  .  ." 

"No?"  said  Dan  quietly,  "No? 
What  are  you  going  to  be?" 

Joel  shrugged,  "I  haven't  made  up 
my  mind  yet,  Dad,  Give  me  time. 
I'm  only  eighteen.  I  don't  want  to 
get  stuck  in  a  rut.  What  about  the 
racket?" 

"No,"  said  Dan  harshly.  "When 
you're  working  you  can  buy  your 
racket.  This  job  would  even  help 
put  you  in  college  again." 

"And  I'm  not  going  to  school 
again,"  Joel  shouted.  "I've  had  my 
fill."  He  rushed  out  and  Lucy  heard 
him  pick  up  his  tennis  racket,  and 
then  his  footsteps  slamming  down 
the  steps. 

She  twisted  a  napkin.  What  had 
come  over  Dan,  she  wondered  with  a 
sick  amazement.  Dan  who  had  been 
so  proud  of  Joel's  prowess  on  the 
courts! 

"Dad's  right,"  said  Dale,  folding 
his  napkin.  "Joel  should  be  pay- 
ing more  attention  to  getting  a  job. 
This  tennis  craze  won't  get  him  any- 
where." 

He  rose,  and  as  always,  his  big- 
ness and  his  dark  good  looks  tug- 
ged at  Lucy's  heart.  "Are  you  going 
to  see  Carla'?" 

He  shook  his  head.  "I'm  thinking 
of  buying  a  new  car.  I've  an  ap- 
pointment with  a  salesman." 

"A  car?"  cried  Lucy,  "But  .  .  . 
but  I  thought  you  and  Carla  would 
get  married  now?" 

"I'm  not,"  said  Dale,  "going  to  get 
married  now.  You  don't  know  what 
I've  been  through,  sitting  in  that  of- 
fice day  after  day.  Waiting  for 
clients  who  never  came.  Now  when 
(Continued  on  page  294) 
275 


\\ 


JhsL 

PENNY  BLACK 


// 


"C 


along  all  stamp  collectors" 
is  the  cry  that  is  ringing 
over  the  philatelic  world  in 
this  year  of  1940.  The  occasion  is 
the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of 
the  first  adhesive  postage  stamp,  the 
famous  "Penny  Black,"  conceived 
and  energetically  sponsored  for  five 
years  by  Rowland  Hill,  a  Birming- 
ham schoolmaster,  and  issued  by 
Great  Britain  on  May  6,  1840.  Its 
design  was  the  head  of  the  young 
Queen  Victoria,  then  but  three  years 
advanced  on  her  sixty-four  year 
reign.  This  pioneer  momentous 
classic  long  has  been  and  still  is  the 
most  collected  and  most  studied  post- 
age stamp  ever  printed  despite  the 
tens  of  thousands  of  different  stamps 
since  issued  by  over  one  thousand 
countries  and  cities. 

Although  millions  of  the  "Penny 
Black"  were  printed,  the  stamp,  even 
after  a  century,  has  a  steady  and 
considerable  market  value.  While 
indifferent  specimens  may  be  had 
for  a  dollar  or  two,  covers  carrying 
this  stamp,  with  postmark  dated  May 
6,  1840,  readily  bring  seventy-five 
to  one  hundred  dollars,  depending 
upon  the  condition  of  both  cover  and 
stamp.  A  neat  cover  dated  May  10, 
1840  (the  first  Sunday  of  use),  has 
sold  for  over  two  hundred  dollars. 
Clean  singles  with  ample  margins 
and  clear  cancellations,  the  kind  de- 
sired by  every  stamp  collector,  sell 
readily  for  from  five  to  twenty-five 
dollars — and  all  this  for  a  bit  of 
paper  even  in  its  original,  unused 
state,  never  with  more  intrinsic  ac- 
tual value  than  a  penny!  Many  col- 
lectors in  this  country  and  even  more 
in  England  boast  of  hundreds,  in 
some  cases  thousands,  of  copies  of 
the  "Penny  Black"  in  single  collec- 
tions. Four  hundred  copies  were 
sold  in  a  single  afternoon  auction  sale 
in  New  York  on  March  19,  1940. 

Such  was  postage  stamp  number 
one,  the  centenary  of  which  thou- 
sands of  western  collectors  and  mil- 
lions in  the  United  States  will  note 
with  interest  and  will  often  mark 
with  specific  ceremony  or  observ- 
ance. The  Deseret  Stamp  Club, 
principal  group  of  collectors  in  Utah, 
has  issued  an  attractive  commemo- 
rative poster  stamp  and  similar  clubs 
in  all  countries  will  mark  the  anni- 
versary with  exhibits,  special  pro- 
grams, poster  stamps,  and  other 
276 


By  JAMES  I.  WYER 

T  OOKING    BACK   A    HUNDRED 
YEARS      OF      PHILATELY — 
SINCE  MAY,  1840. 


REPRODUCTION  OF  A  GROUP  OF 
FOUR    PENNY    BLACK    STAMPS 


souvenirs.  The  American  govern- 
ment is  discussing  the  issue  of  a 
special  stamp  recognizing  the  cen- 
tenary. 

This  first  stamp  carried  on  the 
margins  of  the  sheets  of  two  hun- 
dred forty  in  which  it  was  printed, 
some  practical  and  paternalistic  in- 
structions from  the  British  govern- 
ment. The  public  in  using  this  new 
device  was  cautioned  to  avoid  get- 
ting the  "cement"  (gum,  we  call  it 
now)  on  the  new  "labels"  "untimely 
wet"  and  further  was  explicitly  di- 
rected to  "place  the  labels  above 
the  address  and  towards  the  right 
hand  side  of  the  letter." 

In  one  of  several  pamphlets  in 
which  Rowland  Hill  urged  penny 
postage  upon  the  British  govern- 
ment, he  replied  as  follows  to  some 
possible  objections  raised  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Lords:  "Per- 
haps the  difficulties  might  be  obvi- 
ated by  using  a  bit  of  paper  just  large 
enough  to  bear  the  stamp  and  cov- 
ered at  the  back  with  a  glutinous 
wash  which  by  applying  a  little 
moisture  might  be  attached  to  the 
letter" — in  these  words  we  have 
probably  the  first  formal  definition 
of  a  postage  stamp,  and  the  world 
has  been  licking  his  glutinous  wash 
for  a  hundred  years! 

\\7here  was  the  United  States  all 

this  time?   Our  country,  it  must 

be  confessed,  was  not  even  second 


or  third  to  adopt  this  far-reaching 
innovation.  In  1843,  Brazil  put  out 
the  "Bull's-eyes,"  a  notable  and 
striking  set  of  three  stamps.  Sev- 
eral of  the  Swiss  cantons  used  at- 
tractive adhesive  stamps  between 
1 843  and  1 848.  The  little  island  of 
Mauritius  in  the  Indian  ocean  was 
the  first  of  England's  colonies  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  mother 
country,  for  in  the  early  months  of 
1847  it  became  number  four  on  the 
honor  roll.  Not  until  1847  did  the 
always  conservative  and  slow-mov- 
ing American  Congress  authorize 
and  produce  the  handsome  five-  and 
ten-cent  stamps  which  form  the  first 
of  our  postal  issues.  Our  postage 
stamp  centenary  therefore  will  oc- 
cur in  1947,  an  easy  date  for  Utah 
collectors  to  remember,  and  it  will 
undoubtedly  be  commemorated  in 
fitting  fashion. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  even 
with  the  British  stamps  in  use  for 
seven  years,  Americans  were  slower 
than  the  English  to  fall  into  the  habit 
of  prepaying  their  letters  by  affixing 
the  new  bits  of  gummed  paper.  Row- 
land Hill  notes  in  his  journal  that 
about  half  of  the  letters  handled  by 
the  post  office  on  the  first  day  of  the 
"Penny  Black"  bore  the  new  stamp. 
So  slow,  however,  were  Americans 
to  approve  or  at  any  rate  to  accustom 
themselves  to  the  use  of  the  adhesive 
stamp  that  in  1855,  Congress  deemed 
it  expedient  to  fix  January  1,  1856, 
as  the  date  after  which  all  letters 
must  be  prepaid  by  stamps. 

The  approaching  centenary  prob- 
ably will  stimulate  search  in  long- 
neglected  stamp-albums,  in  attic 
boxes,  and  trunks  where  old  letters 
are  stored  and  thousands  of  buried 
"Penny  Blacks"  will  come  to  light. 
There  may  be  some  of  them  or  of 
other  early  British  stamps  in  Utah, 
for  between  1847  and  1860  many 
British  emigrants  came  to  Utah  and 
must  have  received  here  many  let- 
ters from  their  former  country,  some 
of  which  have  been  saved.  The 
same  situation  is  even  more  likely  to 
exist  with  respect  to  our  first  Amer- 
ican issue.  These  five-  and  ten-cent 
stamps  were  used  from  1 847  to  1851, 
and  many  of  the  letters  which  fol- 
lowed the  original  pioneers  to  the 
new  land  of  Deseret  must  have  been 
carried  by  our  first  five-  and  ten-cent 

(Concluded  on  page  293) 


Values 


A 


A  SHORT 
SHORT 
STORY 


T  five  minutes  to 
four,  I  picked  up  my  books  and  left 
the  library.  I  could  see  my  brother 
Bill  in  the  old  car  parked  in  the  ave- 
nue, sitting  very  straight  and  staring 
ahead  over  the  steering  wheel.  The 
street  in  front  of  the  high  school  was 
lined  with  cars,  but  ours  was  the 
oldest  and  shabbiest  of  them  all  and 
I  hated  to  be  identified  with  it.  I 
slunk  into  the  back  seat  and  despised 
myself  for  being  ashamed. 

Why  did  I  always  want  to  appear 
better  than  I  was?  Once  within  the 
old  car,  all  my  pretensions  were 
stripped  from  me.  I  could  no  longer 
imagine  that  I  was  the  cherished 
daughter  of  a  kind  and  prosperous 
father  who  had  given  me  that  new 
cream-colored  roadster  over  there 
for  my  sixteenth  birthday.  I  was 
just  I.  "  I  didn't  even  live  in  this  town. 
I  lived  on  a  cherry  orchard  thirteen 
miles  away.  Sitting  in  the  shabby 
car  even  made  my  clothes  seem 
shabbier,  and  I  wished  that  the  stu- 
dents passing  by  wouldn't  recognize 
me. 

We  waited,  without  talking,  for 
my  sister  and  brother  who  went  to 
the  university.  Only  my  sister  came. 
She  said  that  Jay  had  to  stay  late 
for  a  meeting. 

The  ride  home  was  not  pleasant. 
Bill  drove  as  if  demons  were  after 
him  and  when  we  protested,  he  went 
only  as  fast  as  he  had  to  go  to  keep 
the  engine  from  dying.  The  day 
was  hot,  unusually  hot  for  spring, 
and  the  smells  from  the  oil  tanks, 
from  the  meat-packing  house,  and 
from  the  hot  springs  were  intensified 
in  the  heat.  I  felt  sick  to  death  of 
it  all  and  of  the  scenery  we  passed 
ten  times  a  week. 

Farther  out,  I  was  revived  by  the 
fresh,  earthy  fragrance,  and  the  air 
became  sweet  with  blossoms.  The 
world  had  been  metamorphosed  dur- 
ing the  day.  The  sun  had  warmed 
the  buds  to  bursting  and  the  trees 
that  had  been  plain,  grey-green  this 
morning  were  now  like  Cinderellas 
dressed  for  the  ball. 

At  the  last  bend  from  home,  we 
saw  the  tall  trees  that  stabbed  the 
sky  in  a  circle  around  our  house.  The 
orchard  stretched  toward  us  and  our 
orchard  too  had  donned  a  lace  dress. 
Then  coming  closer,  we  noticed  the 
crowds  of  people  and  the  parked 
cars  before  our  gate,  as  if  there  had 


By  RUTH  SHIRLEY 


"M1Z  STRATFORD,"  HE  SAID,  "IF  YOU'RE 
GOIN'  TER  MOVE  OVER  TO  THE  PACKIN' 
HOUSE,  I'D  BE  RIGHT  GLAD  TO  HAUL  SOME 
OF  YOUR  THINGS  OVER  IN  THE  WAGON 
FER   YE." 


been  an  accident.  Suddenly  I  be- 
came aware  that  the  silhouette  of 
trees  was  thin  and  bare.  I  could  see 
straight  through  them.  There  was 
nothing  solid  blocking  the  view.  Our 
house  was  gone! 

Bill  stopped  the  car  and  we  climb- 
ed out.  We  could  hardly  see  past 
the  people  lining  the  fence.  I  heard 
old  Curt  Rice  talking  to  another 
neighbor:  "It  waren't  no  use  of  us 
gittin'  burnt  trying  to  drag  stuff  out. 
We  knowed  they  had  insurance  to 
cover  iverythin'."  His  wrinkles 
deepened. 

I  looked  between  the  heads  of  the 
people  in  front  of  me  at  the  familiar 
objects  standing  rescued  but  be- 
draggled-looking on  the  lawn.  I 
hadn't  realized  until  then,  how  old 
and  battered  and  ugly  our  furniture 
was.  I  was  seeing  it  as  I  thought 
the  people  around  me  were  seeing  it. 

There  was  mother's  chiffonier  that 
Aunt  Hattie  had  given  us  and  that 
we  had  painted  white.  A  suit  box 
was  on  top  of  it,  and  the  pink  geor- 
gette for  my  graduation  dress  which 
mother  was  going  to  make,  was 
straggling  out  of  the  box.  The 
leather  couch  and  the  dining  room 
table  were  huddled  together  and 
partly  buried  under  an  avalanche  of 
sheets  and  pillows,  quilts  and  blan- 
kets, nightgowns,  coats,  shoes,  and 
hats.  The  rocking  chair  with  the 
mended  leg  was  broken  again,  from 
being  dragged  out  in  a  hurry.  It 
was  lying  on  its  side  as  if  giving  its 
last  kick.  Mother's  darning  basket, 
withworn-out  socks  over-running  it, 
lay  on  the  grass  by  the  milk  buckets 
and  the  broom.  I  •wished  people 
would  go  away  and  quit  staring  and 
laughing  at  our  miserable  belongings. 

1  was  glad  that  no  one 
noticed  me.  I  left  the  crowd  and 
went  down  the  lane  to  the  side  gate 
and  pushed  through  it.    The  black- 


f^.^wim- 


ened  foundations  yawned  cadaver- 
ously and  smoke  twisted  thinly  up- 
ward. I  saw  mother  sitting  over  in  the 
orchard  on  a  couple  of  mattresses. 
The  path  they  had  been  dragged 
over  showed  clear  and  bare.  Moth- 
er's face  was  white  except  where  it 
was  streaked  with  black. 

"Did  anyone  get  hurt?"  I  breathed. 

"No.  We're  all  right,  thank 
heaven."  She  spoke  mechanically 
as  a  person  who  had  been  stunned. 
"If  it  hadn't  been  for  a  truckload  of 
road  workers,  we  wouldn't  have 
saved  anything.  They  stopped  and 
pulled  out  everything  they  could  be- 
fore the  fire  got  too  bad.  They  were 
wonderful.  It  was  just  as  if  they 
had  been  sent  to  help  us." 

"Did  we  have  insurance?"  I  want- 
ed to  know. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "but  not  enough 
to  cover  all  of  this." 

I  sat  down  by  her.  "What  are  we 
going  to  do,  Mom?" 

She  straightened  her  shoulders. 
"We'll  move  over  to  the  packing 
house  in  the  big  orchard.  You  take 
the  broom  and  go  over  and  sweep  it 
out."  She  looked  into  my  eyes  and 
said  earnestly:  "Everyone  has  been 
awfully  good.  Mr.  Brown  offered 
us  one  of  his  houses  to  live  in  free 
until  we  can  build  up  again.  But  we 
won't  take  it.  We'll  manage  in  the 
(Concluded  on  page  297) 
277 


Photograph  by  New  Mexico  State  Tourist  Bureau. 


Jhe. 

MORMON  BATTALION 

IN  NEW  MEXICO 

hphe  story  of  a  brief  but  spectacular  sojourn 
which  will  be  commemorated  as  part  of  the 
state's  Coronado  Cuarto  Centennial. 


Many  spectacular  tales  were 
written  into  the  records  dur- 
ing the  middle  decades  of 
the  nineteenth  century  in  New  Mex- 
ico, but  perhaps  no  more  dramatic 
chapter  was  inscribed  than  that  of 
the  Mormon  Battalion,  a  fully 
equipped  fighting  force  of  five  hun- 
dred men  who  marched  across  the 
state  in  1846  as  a  part  of  the  expedi- 
tionary army  of  General  Stephen  W. 
Kearny. 

Historians  and  writers  gathering 
material  for  New  Mexico's  Coro- 
nado Cuarto  Centennial,  which  com- 
memorates the  state's  four-hun- 
dredth anniversary  this  year,  dis- 
covered that  the  Battalion's  brief 
but  spectacular  sojourn  in  New  Mex- 
ico was  worthy  of  commemoration. 
As  a  result,  the  New  Mexico  State 
Tourist  Bureau  will  erect  six  his- 
torical highway  markers  along  the 
Mormons'  route,  which  followed  the 
Santa  Fe  Trail  across  the  northeast 
section  of  the  state  to  Santa  Fe,  then 
swung  down  the  Rio  Grande,  and 
westward  across  the  Mimbres  Val- 
ley. A  twenty-two'  foot  stone 
marker,  commemorating  the  march 
of  the  Battalion  through  New  Mex- 
ico, is  being  erected  this  spring  under 
the  auspices  of  a  committee  of  Lat- 
ter-day Saints  from  Albuquerque. 
Governor  John  E.  Miles  has  granted 
permission  to  place  the  monument 
on  U.  S.  Highway  85,  midway  be- 
tween Albuquerque  and  Santa  Fe. 

The  Battalion  crossed  the  eastern 
border  of  New  Mexico  on  September 
28,  1846,  after  stumbling  across  the 
plains  of  Kansas,  Oklahoma,  and 
Texas.  Plagued  by  heat,  sand,  wind, 
278 


rain,  and  a  shortage  of  food,  the 
Mormons  found  New  Mexico's  east- 
ern plains  abounding  in  game — bear, 
turkey,  and  antelope — with  which 
they  quickly  replenished  dwindling 
larders. 

From  the  Rabbit  Ear  Mountains 
near  Clayton,  New  Mexico,  the  Bat- 
talion followed  closely  the  route  of 
the  Santa  Fe  Trail  into  Las  Vegas, 
New  Mexico,  passing  such  land- 
marks as  the  Turkey  Mountains, 
which  were  five  years  later  to  provide 
the  eastern  bulwark  for  Fort  Union. 
The  fort  became  an  important  west- 
ern outpost  for  the  U.  S.  Army,  and 
a  stage  stop  on  the  Santa  Fe  Trail. 
It  was  abandoned  in  1890. 

Two  days  before  reaching  Las 
Vegas,  New  Mexico,  then  only 
eleven  years  old,  Lieutenant  Andrew 


OLD  FORT  CUMMINGS,  NEAR  DEMING,  NEW 
MEXICO,  WAS  ESTABLISHED  IN  1863,  AS  AN 
APACHE  OUTPOST  TO  GUARD  STAGE  COACHES 
AND  WAGON  TRAINS  USING  THE  BUTTERFIELD 
TRAIL  AND  OVERLAND  MAIL  ROUTE,  WHICH 
WOUND  THROUGH  COOK'S  CANYON  NEAR  HERE. 
COOK'S  PEAK,  WHICH  TAKES  ITS  NAME  FROM 
THE  COMMANDING  OFFICER  OF  THE  MORMON 
BATTALION,  WHICH  PASSED  HERE  IN  1846,  IS 
SEEN  IN  THE  BACKGROUND.  THE  FORT  WAS 
ABANDONED  IN  1891,  AND  ONLY  RUINS  RE- 
MAIN. 


By  KENNETH  ALLEN 

Of  the  New  Mexico  State 
Tourist  Bureau 


J.  Smith,  commanding  officer,  per- 
suaded the  Mormon  leaders  to  split 
the  Battalion,  leaving  the  sick  and 
supply  trains  behind,  and  taking  the 
rest  of  the  command  forward  to 
Santa  Fe  under  forced  march.  Con- 
sequently, the  first  contingent  of 
Mormons  reached  Santa  Fe  on  Oc- 
tober 9,  and  the  remainder  four  days 
later.  The  Battalion  was  just  two 
weeks  behind  the  main  force  of  Gen- 
eral Kearny,  who  had  already  taken 
the  vast  territory  of  New  Mexico 
for  the  United  States,  and  was  well 
on  his  way  toward  California. 

From  Las  Vegas  to  Santa  Fe  the 
Latter-day  Saints  passed  many  his- 
torical landmarks,  among  them  Star- 
vation Peak,  where  legend  holds  a 
party  of  white  settlers  were  sur- 
rounded by  a  surprise  Indian  attack 
and  starved  to  death  while  seeking 

Photograph  by  New  Mexico  State  Tourist  Bureau. 


INDIAN  PiCTO- 

GRAPHS  ON  THE 
MIMBRES  RIVER, 
SIX  MILES  NORTH- 
WEST  OF  FAYW00D, 
HOT  SPRINGS,  NEW 
MEXICO.  THE  PUR- 
POSE OF  THESE 
SYMBOLIC  WRIT- 
INGS BY  THE  AB- 
ORIGINES HAS 
NEVER  BEEN  DE- 
TERMINED BY  AR- 
CHAEOLO  GISTS. 
THE  PICTOGRAPHS 
WERE  MADE  BY 
THE  MIMBRENOS 
INDIANS,  AN  EX- 
TINCT RACE, 
WHOSE  DISAP- 
iPEARlANCE  CON- 
TINUES TO  PUZZLE 
SCIENTISTS  WHO 
HAVE  BECOME  IN- 
TERESTED IN  THIS 
AREA. 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


haven  on  the  mountain;  Pecos  Indian 
Pueblo  ruins,  abandoned  in  1838, 
along  with  the  Franciscan  Mission 
of  Our  Lady  of  Angels  of  Porciun- 
cula,  founded  about  1617. 

The  Mormons  remained  in  Santa 
Fe  ten  days.  History  relates  that 
they  were  given  a  one  hundred  gun 
salute  as  they  marched  into  the  an- 
cient capital  city.  Many  of  the  men 
who  were  sick  and  several  families 
who  had  followed  from  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa,  on  the  hard  journey 
were  persuaded  to  go  to  Pueblo, 
Colorado,  to  remain  until  permanent 
quarters  could  be  arranged  in  Cali- 
fornia. At  Santa  Fe  Lieutenant 
Smith  was  relieved  of  his  command 
and  Captain  Philip  St.  George  Cook, 
who  later  was  to  win  fame  as  a 
frontier  army  officer,  was  named  to 
head  the  Battalion. 

T  eaving  Santa  Fe  on  October  19, 
the  Mormons  marched  down  the 
Rio  Grande  for  twenty-six  days  be- 
fore turning  west  near  the  present 
town  of  Caballo,  New  Mexico.  From 
a  strictly  historical  standpoint  it  is 
interesting  to  note  here  that  the  Bat- 
talion did  not  journey  over  Jornada 
del  Muerto  (Journey  of  Death)  as 
did  most  of  the  traffic  moving 
through  the  lower  Rio  Grande  Val- 
ley. The  Jornada  was  a  long 
stretch  of  arid  plains  country,  which 
lay  to  the  east  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
separated  from  it  by  the  Sierra 
Caballos.  Besides  the  natural  hard- 
ships encountered  in  crossing  this 
desert  stretch,  there  were  the  lurking 
Apaches  in  the  San  Andres  Moun- 
tains to  the  east. 

When  General  Kearny  came 
down  the  river,  he  followed  the 
Jornada,  but  the  Mormons  stayed 
with   the   stream   route,    sometimes 


STARVATION  PEAK.  A  WELL-KNOWN  LANDMARK 
ON  U.  S.  85  BETWEEN  LAS  VEGAS  AND  SANTA 
FE,  NEW  MEXICO.  THE  PEAK  GETS  ITS  NAME 
FROM  THE  FACT  THAT  EARLY  SETTLERS  IN  LAS 
VEGAS  WERE  DRIVEN  OUT  BY  INDIANS,  SURr 
ROUNDED  AND  STARVED  TO  DEATH  WHEN  THEY 
TOOK  REFUGE  ON  THIS  PEAK.  THIS  WAS  ONE 
OF  THE  LANDMARKS  PASSED  BY  THE  MORMON 
BATTALION  ON  ITS  MARCH  THROUGH  NEW 
MEXICO   IN    1S46. 

Photograph  by  New  Mexico  State  Tourist  Bureau. 


literally  pulling  the  oxen  and  heavily 
loaded  supply  wagons  through  the 
ruts  and  bosks  over  poorly  laid 
roads.  When  the  Battalion  swung 
away  from  the  Rio  Grande,  it  head- 
ed into  the  sparsely  populated  and 
Apache-infested  Mimbres  Valley  of 
Southern  New  Mexico.  Again 
plagued  by  shortage  of  rations,  the 
intrepid  band  was  forced  to  kill  for 
food  the  oxen  which  were  hauling 
the  rations  wagons.  Across  south- 
ern New  Mexico  the  Battalion  fol- 
lowed the  approximate  route  which 
twelve  years  later  was  to  become 
famous  as  the  Butterfield  Trail,  the 
longest  overland  route  from  Mis- 
souri to  California. 

In  the  Pinos  Altos  mining  district, 
the  Mormons  came  across  routes 
alive  with  traffic*  from  the  copper 
mines  into  Chihuahua,  Mexico. 
Here  another  crisis  faced  the  Bat- 
talion. Captain  Cook  was  pre- 
vailed upon  by  his  officers  to  follow 
the  mining  road  into  Mexico,  and 
then  to  march  toward  California — a 
route  which  would  have  taken  the 
command  far  off  its  course.  The 
Mormons  prayed  for  one  entire 
night  to  dissuade  Captain  Cook,  but 
the  start  toward  Mexico  was  made. 
Then  the  officer  suddenly  changed 
his  mind,  remembering  his  orders 
from  Kearny  to  follow  as  rapidly  as 
possible  to  California.  The  Bat- 
talion swung  away  from  the  south- 
ern route,  and  toward  the  west  again. 
The  Battalion's  prayers  had  been 
answered. 

Shortage  of  water  became  acute 
as  the  Battalion  struggled  through 
the  rugged  mountain  country  of  the 
Mimbres  toward  the  present  town 
of  Lordsburg,  For  ten  days  the 
command  labored  to  cross  the  Con- 
tinental Divide.  Finally  the  cum- 
bersome supply  trains  were  unload- 
ed, and  the  provisions  packed  by 
mule  over  the  "American  Backbone." 
The  wagons  were  hauled  up  empty 
and  let  down  by  ropes  on  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  divide. 


Photograph  by  New  Mexico  State  Tourist  Bureau. 
THE  YUCCA,  NEW  MEXICO'S  STATE  FLOWER, 
AND  CACTUS  ARE  INDIGENOUS  TO  THE  SOUTH- 
WEST. LOOMING  IN  THE  BACKGROUND  IS  THE 
BLACK  RANGE,  FAMOUS  AS  AN  APACHE  INDIAN 
HIDEOUT  IN  NEW  MEXICO'S  EARLY  DAYS.  IT 
WAS  THROUGH  THIS  RUGGED  COUNTRY  THAT 
THE  MORMON    BATTALION    MARCHED    IN   1846. 


In  the  Gila  River  country,  advance 
scouts  constantly  saw  Indian  signs, 
but  not  until  the  rugged  Peloncillo 
Mountains  were  reached  did  the 
Apaches  venture  forth — and  then  as 
peaceful  traders.  The  Mormons 
bought  meat  and  other  supplies  from 
the  Indians,  a  spectacular  feat  in  it- 
self in  view  of  the  Apaches'  hostile 
attitude  toward  the  white  man. 

Many  of  the  landmarks  in  the 
southern  part  of  New  Mexico  today 
bear  the  name  of  Captain  Cook, 
designating  points  where  the  Bat- 
talion passed  or  made  camp.  Such 
points  as  Cook's  Peak,  Cook's  Can- 
yon, and  Cook's  Spring  were  well- 
known  to  drivers  of  the  Butterfield 
stages.  In  the  shadow  of  Cook's 
Peak,  Fort  Cummings  was  estab- 
lished in  1863  as  an  Indian  outpost. 

Through  Doubtful  Canyon  the 
Battalion  virtually  slid  into  Arizona's 
San  Simon  valley  to  end  their  peace- 
ful journey  across  New  Mexico.  Al- 
though the  United  States  was  at  war 
with  Mexico,  this  phenomenal  army 
never  fought  a  battle  with  the  enemy. 


279 


HER  ALLOTTED 
SHARE 


SHE  LINGERED  OVER  THE  NAME,  AND  THEN 
WITH  A  CONTENTED  SIGH,  PORED  OVER 
THE     WORDS— SAVORING     EACH     OF     THEM. 


A  SHORT 
SHORT 
STORY 


By 

ONDA 
MARCEAU 


B 


'ertha  Evans  looked 
down  at  her  rough  hands  and  broken 
nails.  "What  have  I  gotten  out  of 
life?"  she  asked  herself.  "Years  of 
sitting  on  this  farm — toiling  for  Wil- 
liam and  my  children.  Now  they're 
all  gone,  and  he  reads  Western 
stories." 

For  the  first  time  in  her  life,  Mrs. 
Evans  was  resenting  her  lot.  She 
sank  into  a  chair,  too  weary  to  push 
back  the  grey  hair  that  straggled 
about  her  face.  Then  her  eyes 
strayed  to  the  window.  There  were 
her  flowers,  beaten  to  shreds.  There 
was  the  green  cotton,  which  would 
soon  be  white — just  as  last  fall  and 
the  fall  before. 

"But  I  won't  get  a  ready-made 
dress,"  she  whispered;  "there  won't 
be  any  money  to  have  my  hair  curled 
like  the  town  women  do."  She  felt 
old  and  tired,  and  wondered  why  a 
little  beauty  couldn't  enter  her  life. 

Just  then  she  heard  her  husband 
scrape  his  feet  on  the  porch.  "I  got 
the  mail,  Mama.  Your  magazine 
came."  William  Evans,  wearing 
scuffed  shoes,  faded  khakis,  and  a 
week-old  beard,  slammed  the  screen 
door  as  he  came  in.  When  his  wife 
failed  to  look  up,  he  said  again, 
"Mama,  the  magazine  came." 

She  stirred  then.  "Oh,  let  me  see." 
Tired  as  she  was,  Bertha  took  the 
magazine  eagerly.  She  turned  the 
pages  quickly  as  William  sat  down, 
propping  his  feet  on  the  stove. 

Bertha  stopped  on  a  title  that 
read:  "Tribute  to  Courage,"  by 
Janet  Evans.  She  lingered  over  the 
name,  and  then  with  a  contented 
sigh,  pored  over  the  words — savor- 
ing each  of  them. 

/\t  fifty,  Mary  Adams 
was  not  beautiful.  Her  face  bore 
no  evidence  of  massages  or  expensive 
oils.  Broken  nails  and  rough  hands 
were  mute  proof  of  hours  of  heart- 
breaking toil.     Her  shoulders  were 

280 


stooped  from  carrying,  beneath  her 
heart,  the  five  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters, now  grown  tall  and  sturdy.  The 
faded,  gingham  dress  Mary  wore 
served  only  to  cover  her,  giving 
nothing  to  her  face  or  to  her  figure. 

"Little  of  what  the  world  calls 
beauty  bad  been  in  Mary's  life.  Her 
husband  was  a  small  Texas  farmer, 
an  undemonstrative,  silent  man;  a 
man  who  forgot  birthdays  and  anni- 
versaries. Sam  Adams'  tenets  called 
for  no  finery.  'I  am  a  simple  country 
man,'  he  was  wont  to  say.  'Let  peo- 
ple take  us  for  what  we  are — not  for 
the  clothes  we  wear.'  A  good  hus- 
band, even  so! 

"When  Mary  married  Sam  Ad- 
ams, she  had  said  to  herself,  'Now, 
I  shall  have  bright  curtains  and  rugs, 
nice  furniture,  flowers  in  my  yard; 
I  shall  even  have  silk  dresses.'  For 
Mary  loved  all  soft  and  delicate 
things,  so  deeply  that  she  could  not 
even  share  her  secret  love. 

"But  soon  her  bright,  new  linoleum 
rugs  had  been  scarred  by  scampering 
feet.  The  curtains  were  faded  from 
much  washing,  and  the  furniture 
scratched.  The  flowers  she  so  care- 
fully tended  must  be  covered  with 
jars  or  the  sand  would  smother  their 
lives. 

"If  Mary  looked  longingly  at  silk 
dresses  in  the  catalog  or  the  depart- 
ment store  thirty  miles  away- — be- 
fore she  bought  the  six  pair  of  over- 
alls, for  her  men — no  one  ever  knew. 

"Each  day  brought  a  multitude  of 
endless  tasks,  but  Mary  was  a  spend- 
thrift with  her  energy.  Her  children 
romped  through  the  ugly,  old  house, 
leaving  misplaced  articles  in  their 
wake.  They  were  sick.  They  were 
hurt.  Johnny  fell  out  of  the  apple 
tree  and  broke  his  arm.  Danny  was 
laid  up  for  months  when  he  cut  his 
leg  on  the  barbed  wire  fence.    They 


tore  clothes — -dirtied  them,  and  ate 
with  the  insatiable  appetites  of  farm 
children.  The  cry  of  'Mama,  I 
want — '  was  a  constant  crescendo. 
"In  her  few  leisure  moments, 
stolen  after  the  children  were  asleep, 
Mary  sewed  bits  of  lace  on  her 
daughters'  dresses  or  bows  of  ribbon 
on  the  tiny  bonnets.  Sam  read 
stories  of  bucking  horses  and  stam- 
peding herds." 


B, 


►ertha  paused  for  a  mo- 
ment and  looked  across  at  her  hus- 
band. Then  she  went  on  to  the  end 
of  the  story — a  story  of  a  farm 
woman  whose  splendid  courage 
brought  a  large  family  through  one 
crisis  after  another.  Her  eyes  stayed 
on  the  final  paragraph  and  she  read 
it  again  and  again. 

"True- — Mary  Adams'  life  had 
not  been  filled  with  the  beautiful 
things  she  longed  for.  Nor  had  it 
been  an  easy  one.  But  Mary  didn't 
mind  now.  She  had  learned  of  a  new 
beauty.  She  had  found  a  new  satis- 
faction. She  had  sent  seven  children 
out  into  the  world — seven  strong- 
bodied,  clean-minded,  right  thinking 
children.  That  knowledge  was  re- 
ward enough." 

Bertha  sat  on,  rocking  a  little, 
staring  straight  ahead.  William  got 
to  his  feet  and  started  for  the  door, 
saying  over  his  shoulder,  "Wonder 
where  daughter  gets  her  ideas  for 
her  stories,  Mama?" 

There  was  no  expression  on 
Bertha's  face  as  she  answered, 
"Don't  know,  Pa.  Guess  she  just 
thinks  'em  up."  But  there  was  a  new 
light  in  her  tired  eyes — a  new  un- 
derstanding, a  new  courage. 

"I  guess  it  hasn't  been  so  bad," 
she  mumbled,  when  her  husband  had 
gone.  And  there  was  no  longer  re- 
sentment in  her  tone. 


JAe  "MILLENNIAL  STAR 


// 


One  hundred  years  ago  this 
month  (May,  1840)  the 
printing  shop  of  W.  R. 
Thomas,  Spring  Gardens,  Man- 
chester, England,  was  the  scene  of 
considerable  activity.  Among  his 
various  printing  jobs,  Mr.  Thomas 
had  agreed  with  one  Parley  P.  Pratt, 
an  American  Mormon  missionary,  to 
furnish,  for  a  given  sum,  two  thou- 
sand copies  a  month  of  a  new,  reli- 
gious magazine,  to  be  known  as  The 
Latter-day  Saints  Millennial  Star. 
Mr.  Pratt  had  prepared,  some  weeks 
previously,  the  prospectus  for  the 
first  copy  of  his  magazine,  but  not 
knowing  where  the  money  to  pay 
for  the  printing  was  to  come  from, 
he  had  written  his  fellow  missionary, 
Brigham  Young,  then  in  Hereford- 
shire, as  follows:  "When  I  have 
a  sufficient  number  of  subscribers 
and  money  enough  on  hand  to  justify 
the  publishing  of  the  paper,  I  will 
proceed  with  it." 

President  Young,  with  his  charac- 
teristic energy,  replied,  "Publish  two 
thousand  copies  of  the  magazine,  and 
I  will  foot  the  bill." 

And  so  Parley  P.  Pratt  made  an 
agreement  with  Mr.  Thomas,  printer, 
of  Spring  Gardens,  Manchester,  to 
print  two  thousand  copies  of  the 
first  number  of  the  Millennial  Star, 
and  assured  him  that  the  money  to 
pay  for  the  work  would  be  forth- 
coming. 

How  could  Brigham  Young  "foot 
the  bill"  for  this  printing  job?  Only 
one  month  previously,  April  6th,  to 
be  exact,  he  had  landed  in  Liverpool, 
"a  stranger,  in  a  strange  land,"  prac- 
tically without  money  or  possession 
of  any  kind.  "I  had  enough  to  buy 
a  hat,"  he  relates,  "and  pay  my  pas- 
sage to  Preston,  for  from  the  time 
I  left  home  I  had  worn  an  old  cap 
which  my  wife  made  out  of  a  pair 
of  old  pantaloons;  but  most  of  us 
[the  Twelve  who  had  accompanied 
him  to  England]  were  entirely  desti- 
tute of  means  to  buy  even  any  neces- 
sary article." 

Perhaps  no  part  of  our  Church 
history  is  more  inspiring  than  the 
account  of  the  journey  of  seven  of 
the  Quorum  of  Twelve  Apostles  to 
England  in  the  fall  of  1839  and  the 
spring  of  1840 — strong,  noble,  faith- 
ful men,  with  every  external  cir- 
cumstance against  them.  They  had 
just  been  driven  out  of  Missouri 
and  had  been  robbed  and  stripped  of 
their  possessions.     One  by  one  they 


coldest  existing  church  publication  still 
makes  its  weekly  appearance  in  great 
Britain. 


LATTER-DAY  SAIBTS 

MILLENNIAL   STAR 


No.  1.  V. 


EDITED  BY  PARI.KY  I*,  PRATT. 


MAY,    1840. 


Price  6d. 


PROSPECTUS, 
The  long  nimhi  of  darkness  is  now 
far  spent — the  truth  revived  in  its 
primitive  simplicity  and  purity,  like 
the  day-star  of  the  horizon,  lights  up 
the  dawn  of  that  effulgent  morn  when 
the  knowledge  of  (iud  will  cover  the 
earth  U  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  It 
has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  send  forth 
an  Hoi.y  AtfOE-L,  to  restore  ihr  ful- 
ness of  the  gospel  with  all  tla  attendant 
blessings,  to  bring  together  his  wan- 
dering sheep  into  one  fold,  to  restore  to 
them  "  the  faith  which  waa  once 
delivered  to  the  saints,"  and  to  send 
his  servants  in  these  last  days,  with  a 
special  message  to  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  in  order  to  prepare  all  who 
will  hearken  for  lite  Second  Advent 
of  Messiah,  which  is  now  near  at  hand. 

By  this  means,  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter-Day  Saints,  (being 
first  organized  in  1830)  has  spread 
throughout  many  parts  of  America  and 
Europe  ;  and  has  caused  many  tens 
of  thousands  to  rejoice  above  measure, 
while  they  are  enabled  to  walk  in  the 
light  of  truth. 

A  ml  feeling  very  desirous  that  others 
should  be  made  partakers  of  the  same 


proper  to  order  the  publication  of  a 
Periodical  devoted  entirely  to  the  great 
work  of  the  spread  of  truth,  sincerely 
praying  that  men  may  be  led  to  care- 
fully examine  the  subject,  and  to 
discern  between  truth  and  error,  and 
act  accordingly. 

"Thk  Millennial  Stak*'  will 
stand  aloof  from  the  common  political 
and  commercial  news  of  the  day. — Its 
columns  will  be  devoted  to  the  spread 
of  the  fulness  of  the  gospel — the  restor- 
ation of  the  ancienfprinciples  of  Chris- 
tianity— the  gathering  of  Israel — the 
rolling  forth  o(  the  kingdom  of  God 
among  the  nations — the  signs  of  the 
times — the  fuliilment  of  prophecy- 
recording  the  judgments  of  God  as 
they  befiu  the  nations,  whether  signs 
in  the  heavens  or  in  the  earth  "  blood, 
fire,  or  vapour  of  smoke" — in  short, 
whatever  is  shown  forth  indicative  of 
the  coming  of  the  "Son  of  Man,"  and 
the  u.ihering  in  of  his  universal  reign 
on  the  earth.  It  will  also  contain 
letters  from  our  numerous  elders  who 
are  abroad,  preaching  the  word  both 
in  America  and  Europe,  containing 
news  of  their  success  in  ministering 
the  blessings  of  the  glorious  gospeL 


REPRODUCTION  OF  AN  EXCERPT  FROM  PAGE 
ONE,  NUMBER  ONE,  OF  THE  "MILLENNIAL 
STAR". 

had  converged  towards  the  village 
of  Commerce,  Illinois,  where  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  was  endeav- 
oring to  form  a  new  gathering  place. 
Then,  without  adequate  protection 
for  their  families,  almost  without 
food,  poorly  clothed,  several  of  them 
ill,  all  of  them  without  money,  the 
time  came  for  them  to  depart  for 
their  missions  to  England,  as  they 
had  been  commanded  in  the  revela- 
tion of  July,  1838. 

By  the  utmost  exertion  and  by  the 
blessings  of  God,  they  arrived  in 
England.  They  were  persevering 
men;  their  experiences  were  pre- 
paring them  for  the  day  when  they 
would  be  called  "to  bear  off  the  bur- 
den of  the  Kingdom." 

Perhaps  these  brethren  could  not 
have  succeeded  so  well  in  their  diffi- 
culties had  it  not  been  that  they  were 
all  young  men.  Their  ages  at  the 
time  they  arrived  in  England  were 
as  follows:  Brigham  Young,  38; 
Heber  C.  Kimball,  38;  Parley  P. 
Pratt,  33;  Orson  Pratt,  28;  Wilford 
Woodruff,  33;  John  Taylor,  31; 
George  A.  Smith,  22. 

The  brethren  called  a  council  and 
conference  of  the  Saints  to  be  held 
at  Preston  on  April  14th  and  15th, 
1840.  It  was  here,  on  the  second 
day  of  the  conference,  that  the  fol- 
lowing business  was  transacted: 

Moved  and  seconded  that  a  monthly 
periodical  shall  be  published  under  the  di- 


By  PRESTON  NIBLEY 

President  of  the  Northwestern 
States  Mission 


rection  and  superintendence  of  the  Twelve, 
for  the  benefit  and  information  of  the 
Church,  as  soon  as  a  sufficient  number  of 
subscribers  shall  be  obtained;  carried. 

This  date  marks  the  beginning  of 
the  Millennial  Star,  though  not 
named  until  perhaps  two  weeks  later. 
President  Young  has  informed  us 
that  when  the  project  for  beginning 
this  paper  was  put  forth,  "Parley  P. 
Pratt  craved  the  privilege  of  editing 
it,  and  we  granted  him  that  priv- 
liege. 

President  Young  was  a  good 
business  man.  He  knew  that  the 
two  thousand  papers,  to  be  known 
as  the  Millennial  Star,  would  bring 
in  a  given  amount  in  subscriptions. 
He  was  also  eager  to  have  some 
tracts  printed  and  a  new  edition  of 
the  Book  of  Mormon  and  the  Hymn 
Book.  This  would  take  a  consider- 
able amount  of  money,  but  if  the 
money  could  be  obtained  it  would  be 
returned  from  the  sale  of  the  books 
and  tracts  and  the  magazines.  And 
so  Brother  Brigham  proceeded  to 
work  out  the  transaction,  in  his 
business-like  way.  He  went  to 
Herefordshire,  where  Wilford 
Woodruff  had  baptized  several 
wealthy  converts,  and  obtained  a 
loan  from  them.  "I  borrowed  two 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  from  Sister 
Jane  Benbow,"  relates  Brother 
Brigham,  "one  hundred  of  Brother 
Thomas  Kington  and  returned  to 
Manchester,  where  we  printed  three 
thousand  Hymn  Books  and  five 
thousand  Books  of  Mormon,  and  is- 
sued two  thousand  copies  of  the 
Millennial  Star  monthly,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  summer  gave  away 
rising  of  sixty  thousand  tracts." 

Was  the  money  which  President 
Young  borrowed  from  Brother 
Kington  and  Sister  Benbow  returned 
to  them?  Yes,  indeed;  listen  to  this, 
further  from  President  Young:: 

I  was  there  [in  England]  one  year  and 
sixteen  days  with  my  brethren.  ...  I  paid 
three  hundred  and  eighty  dollars  to  get  the 
work  started  in  London,  and  when  I  arrived 
in  Nauvoo  I  owed  no  person  one  farthing. 
Brother  Kington  received  his  pay  from  the 

(Concluded  on  page  309) 

281 


THE  COMMON  SOURCE  OF 


T:iE  atoning  blood  of  the  Man 
of  Galilee  washes  away  the 
sins  of  all  mortals  who — 
through  faith,  repentance,  and  bap- 
tism, and  through  living  every  other 
Gospel  principle  to  the  best  of  their 
ability — have  done  everything  with- 
in their  power  to  bring  about  their 
own  redemption.  The  fact  that  man- 
kind is  mortal — spiritually  dead  and 
banished  from  the  presence  of  his 
Heavenly  Parents — necessitated  the 
sacrifice  of  a  Son  who  was  complete- 
ly pure  and  holy,  one  superiorly  en- 
dowed with  divine  powers  to  the 
extent  that  He  could  break  the  bands 
of  death  and  put  into  effect  the  law 
of  universal  resurrection. 

The  doctrine  of  atonement1  is 
based  upon  the  concept  known  in 
the  scriptures  as  "The  Fall."  At  the 
time  of  their  expulsion  from  Eden, 
Adam  and  Eve  became  mortal  be- 
ings, thereby  experiencing  a  spirit- 
ual as  well  as  a  physical  banishment 
from  God's  presence.  Thus  they 
died  a  spiritual  death,  or,  in  other 
words,  a  veil  was  drawn  over  their 
minds  which  prevented  them  from 
remembering  their  pre-existence  and 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.8 

The  very  fact  that  Adam  and  Eve 
and  all  of  their  descendants  were 
mortals  living  in  a  temporal  world, 
cut  them  off  from  the  presence  of 
God,  who  is  living  in  a  spiritual,  ce- 
lestial world.  The  fall  interpreted 
in  this  sense  includes  people  other 
than  just  Adam  and  Eve.  Every 
child  of  God  that  leaves  his  heaven- 
ly abode  through  birth  into  mortal- 
ity is  "cut  off  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord";  therefore,  he  becomes 
spiritually  dead  and  also  subject  to 
a  temporal  death. 

Under  the  conditions  of  mortality 
and  unaided  by  divine  power  or  a 
divine  being,  men  did  not  have  suf- 
ficient knowledge  or  power  to  bring 
themselves  back  into  the  presence 
of  their  Creator.  The  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther, knowing  fully  the  conditions 
of  mortality,  devised  a  plan  for  the 
redemption  of  His  children  even  be- 
fore He  placed  them  upon  the 
earth.3  A  Savior,  a  Redeemer,  "One 

'The  Gospel  doctrine  of  atonement  contains  a 
number  of  vital  phases,  but  space  will  permit  the 
discussion  of  only  one  of  them  in  this  article — the 
various  concepts  held  relative  to  the  efficacy  of  shed- 
ding  blood    in   atoning   for   the   sins  of    mankind. 

Charles  W.  Penrose,  Blood  Atonement,  1-48;  Joseph 
F.  Smith,  Jr.,  and  Richard  C.  Evans,  Blood  Atonement 
and  the  Origin  of  Plural  Marriage,  1-94. 

2Book  of  Mormon,  Alma  12:20-37;  42:2-10;  2  Nephi 
2:1-30;  9:1-10. 

•'bid..   Alma   12:25,  29-30. 
282 


V.  ATONEMENT  THROUGH  SACRIFICE 

Q&AiiAu  JthfL  m&jdioi&v  d$,  ihsL  nsiw 
fjovsmanL    .    .   iv/wux}hL  out  iPddu 
fWifadL  jtrfo/wtnswL  thhouqpL  ihsL 
Ahsuddinq.  &£  2Cla,  joiv/l  blood*. 


BY 


MILTON  R.HUNTER,Ph.D. 

Associate,  L.  D.  S.  Institute  of 
Religion,  Logan,  Utah 


like  unto  God  Himself,"  was  chosen 
from  among  the  spirit  children,  and 
foreordained  to  come  into  mortality 
fully  endowed  with  divine  powers 
requisite  for  bringing  about  the 
atonement  of  mankind.  The  Master, 
the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  was 
the  One  chosen. 

He,  Jesus  the  Christ,  being  liter- 
ally the  Only  Begotten  Son  of  God, 
was  endowed  with  a  double  portion 
of  divine  attributes.  It  was  He  who 
died  and  shed  His  blood  that  we 
might  live.  No  individual  other 
than  the  Nazarene  who  has  ever 
lived  in  this  world  possessed  the  in- 
nate power  to  perform  such  an  "in- 
finite and  eternal  sacrifice."  These 
glorious  Gospel  truths  were  under- 
stood thoroughly  by  the  Nephites. 
In  the  words  of  Amulek  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Ammonihah: 

According  to  the  great  plan  of  the  Eter- 
nal God,  there  must  be  an  atonement  made, 
or  else  all  mankind  must  unavoidably  per- 
ish. ...  It  must  be  an  infinite  and  eternal 
sacrifice. 

Now  there  is  not  any  man  that  can  sac- 
rifice his  own  blood  which  will  atone  for 
the  sins  of  another.  .  .  .  Therefore,  there 
can  be  nothing  which  is  short  of  an  in- 
finite atonement  which  will  suffice  for  the 
sins  of  the  world.  .  .  . 

I  do  know  that  Christ  shall  come  among 
the  children  of  men,  to  take  upon  Him  the 
transgressions  of  His  people,  and  that  He 
shall  atone  for  the  sins  of  the  world;  for 
the  Lord  God  hath  spoken  it.  .  .  .  The  right- 
eous shall  sit  down  in  the  kingdom,  to  go 
no  more  out;  but  their  garments  should  be 
made  white  through  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb.4 

Shortly  after  Adam  and  Eve  were 
banished  from  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
the  Lord  "saw  that  it  was  expedient 
that  men  should  know  concerning 
the  things  whereof  he  had  appointed 
unto  them;  therefore  He  sent  angels 

Hbid.,  34:1-16.  36. 


— Doctrine  and  Covenants  76:69. 

to  converse  with  them.  .  .  .  [Also] 
God  conversed  with  men,  and  made 
known  unto  them  the  plan  of  re- 
demption, which  had  been  prepared 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world."' 
Thus,  through  divers  ways,  the 
Eternal  Father  taught  mortals  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  instructing 
them  to  hearken  unto  the  voice  of 
His  Only  Begotten  Son  who  was  to 
offer  Himself  freely  as  a  sacrifice, 
"infinite  and  eternal,"  for  mankind. 

But  men  were  informed  that  only 
they  who  repented,  received  baptism 
and  confirmation,  and  faithfully 
obeyed  the  Gospel  teachings,  had 
a  positive  and  full  claim  on  the  sanc- 
tifying and  atoning  blood  of  the 
Master.  The  Lord  in  definite  terms 
told  Father  Adam  that  "This  is  the 
plan  of  salvation  unto  all  men, 
through  the  blood  of  mine  Only 
Begotten,  who  shall  come  in  the 
meridian  of  times."8 

Therefore,  whenever  the  true 
Gospel  plan  has  been  understood  by 
mortals,  the  belief  has  been  held 
that  the  Savior — the  Only  Begot- 
ten Son  of  God- — should  willingly 
sacrifice  His  life  to  rescue  man 
from  sin  and  the  grave.  As  a  result 
of  His  suffering  and  death,  and 
through  His  power  of  Godhead, 
which  is  life  eternal,  all  mortals  will 
eventually  be  resurrected — Jesus 
Himself  being  the  "first  fruits." 
While  living  in  mortality  the  Naz- 
arene declared: 

I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life:  he 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead, 
yet  shall  he  live:  And  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.7 

When  ye  have  lifted  up  the  Son  of  Man, 
then  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  He,  and 
that  I  do  nothing  of  myself;  but  as  my 
Father  hath  taught  me,  I  speak  these 
things.8 

Through  a  careful  study  of  the 
scriptures,  it  becomes  apparent  that 
the  doctrine  of  atonement  through 
sacrifice  relative  to  the  sacrifice  of 

Hbid.,   12:28-30. 

"Pearl  of  Great  Price,  Moses  6:47-67;   5:57. 

7John   11:25-26. 

mid.,  8:28-29. 


RELIGIOUS  TRUTH 


THE  GARDEN  OF 
GETHSEMANE  AT 
EVENING. 


Photo  by 
Adelbert  Bartlett, 


Jesus  is  pertinent  in  the  plan  of  salva- 
tion. This  doctrine — first  revealed  to 
father  Adam  and  later  to  the  holy 
prophets  during  the  various  Gospel 
dispensations — has  found  its  way 
outward  throughout  the  world  and 
downward  through  the  ages  as  a 
"golden  thread"  of  truth.  As  it  was 
disseminated  outward  from  the  orig- 
inal source,  alterations  from  the  true 
concept  occurred.  Therefore,  a 
great  variety  of  beliefs — some  true 
and  others  false — have  been  held 
relative  to  the  efficacy  of  sacrifice  in 
cleansing  one  from  sin  and  in  help- 
ing to  assure  him  immortal  and  eter- 
nal life.  However,  these  various 
concepts  and  practices  are  rooted  in 
the  Messianic  revelations  given  to 
the  first  mortal  and  to  the  other 
prophets  of  the  Lord.  They  came 
from  the  common  source  of  truth 
which  is  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Tn  order  that  mankind  may  con- 
stantly remember  the  great  aton- 
ing sacrifice  of  the  Master,  God  gave 
to  Adam  and  his  posterity  the  law  of 
sacrifice,  which  law  was  observed 
until  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man 


in  the  flesh.9  At  His  advent,  how- 
ever, sacrifice  was  replaced  by  sac- 
rament. 

An  explanation  of  the  true  mean- 
ing of  sacrifice  came  to  Adam  one 
day  when  he  was  offering  unto  the 
Lord  the  firstlings  of  his  flocks.  He 
was  informed  by  an  angel: 

This  thing  is  a  similitude  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father,  which 
is  full  of  grace  and  truth.  Wherefore,  thou 
shalt  do  all  that  thou  doest  in  the  name 
of  the  Son,  and  thou  shalt  repent  and  call 
upon  God  in  the  name  of  the  Son  for 
evermore.10 

Thus  in  the  very  beginning  the 
offering  of  the  sacrificial  animal  was 
regarded  by  Adam  and  his  suc- 
cessors as  an  act  symbolical  of  the 
sacrifice  of  the  "Lamb  of  God."  The 
blood  of  the  animal  had  no  effica- 
cious powers. 

The  Old  Testament  is  rather  re- 
plete with  descriptions  of  sacrifices 
as  carried  on  by  Moses  and  his  Is- 
raelitish  successors  preceding  the  ad- 
vent of  Christ.  Most  of  the  time 
the  blood  of  the  animal-victim  was 

»Pearl  of  Great  Price,   Moses  5:5-9;  6:56;  Book  of 

Mormon,  3  Nephi  9:15-22. 

10Moses,    op.    cit. 


sprinkled  on  the  altar;11  however,  in 
connection  with  certain  rites,  it  was 
sprinkled  on  the  worshipers.12 

To  what  extent  the  Hebrews  be- 
lieved that  blood  contained  potent 
attributes  for  cleansing  them  from 
sin  is  not  made  exactly  clear  in  much 
of  the  Old  Testament.  The  evi- 
dence therein  seems  to  indicate  that 
at  certain  times  in  their  history  at 
least  some  of  the  people  attributed 
a  considerable  amount  of  saving 
grace  to  blood*13  That  was  espe- 
cially true  during  the  eighth  and 
seventh  centuries  B.  C.  when,  due  to 
pagan  influences,  many  of  the  priests 
and  laity  had  a  warped  understand- 
ing of  the  Gospel.  However,  sev- 
eral of  Israel's  great  prophets  firmly 
maintained  that  the  sacrifice  of  ani- 
mals was  merely  symbolical  of  the 
atoning  sacrifice  of  Jesus — the  blood 
of  the  animal-victim  being  shed  in 
commemoration  of  the  "blood  of  the 
Lamb  of  God  slain  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world."  In  violent  pro- 
test to  such  Jewish  priests  who  at- 
(Continued  on  page  311) 


"Leviticus  3:8.    13;  4:17-18;   7:2;   8:15. 
™Ibid.,  8:30;  Exodus  24:5-8;  Hebrews  9:18-21. 
13Leviticus  16:H-15;   Exodus  12:7-30. 


283 


D 


Y  YOUNG 


HIS  MOTHER'S  CHAIR 

I  NEVER  knew  his  mother — yet  she  came 
This  evening,   and   the   restless   firelight 
played 
On    silent    shadow    keys,    with    hands    of 

flame, 
To  welcome  her — but  I  was  half  afraid 
Till  reason  whispered:   "Hush!   She  is  not 

there; 
It's  fancy — and  a  tired  old  rocking  chair." 

Her    rocking     chair — so    century-wise      it 

seemed 
A  symbol  of  all  motherhood;  I  knew 
How  patiently  she'd  rocked  and  sung  and 

dreamed; 
How  she   had   worked   and   laughed — and 

wept  some,  too. 
Here  in  the  dark — perhaps  she'd  knelt  to 

pray 
Beside  it  there,   for  strength   some  sunless 

day. 

Yet  reason  said  she  did  not  come  tonight, 
And    reason,    coldly    faultless,    must   have 

known; 
It  may  have  been  stray  shifting   flecks  of 

light 
That    swayed    her    chair,    and    love    that 

swayed  my  own  .  .  . 
But  no — that  flash  of  silver,  when  she  left! 
And     wooden     arms     entreating — numb — 

bereft! 

— Julia  Nelson. 


te 


hi 


SPRING 


Now   the   flowers   crown   the  earth  with 
gold; 

And  all  the  quiet  hills,  fold  on  fold, 

The  colors  of  the  rainbow  wear 

And  spread   their   radiant  beauty  there. 

— Lynn  Willardson,  Age  1 1 . 


IN  DEFENSE  OF  A  WANDERER 

OH,    why    should    you    with    coward's 
tongue, 
Admonish  him  to  keep  his  place 
Within  your  small  and  narrow  world? 
For  he  is  greater  than  your  fear 
Of  things  you  have  not  known  nor  sought. 
He  is  the  searcher,  and  the  light 
Of  ages  yet  unborn. 

— Beth  Chandler,  Age  15. 

284 


WHEN  DAY  IS  DONE 

Oh,  to  be  in  the  West  when  the  day  is 
done, 
'Neath  a  glowing  turquoise  sky, 
When  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun, 
Kiss  the  purple  hills  good-bye. 

Where   the   evening   breezes   coldly   sing, 
Across  the  hard-packed  snow, 
With  wild  birds  wheeling  on  the  wing, 
Into  the  West  they  go. 

Where  the  hills  stretch  up  to  the  cloudless 

sky, 
Blue  as  the  sun-swept  sea. 
The  trees  give  a  pledge  to  God  on  high, 
In  a  land  both  wild   and  free. 

Oh,   to  be  in  the  West  when  the  day  is 

done, 
And  the  world  slowly  says  goodnight, 
To  see  the  last  of  the  setting  sun, 
And  the  rays  of  fading  light. 

—Dorothy  Mills,  Age  16. 
■  m  ■ 

"ECHO" 

So   many  lovely   poems  have  dropped 
From  pen  and  tongue 
About  the  miles  that  lie  between 
Two  who  are  young, 

That  when  I  try  to  write  to  you 

I  think  instead 
Of  other's  verses,  trembling  fair, 

That  I  have  read — 

And  what  is  there  for  me  to  say 

After  these,  then — 
After  their  sighs  and   longing   dreams, 

Save  just  "Amen"? 

— Lael   Woolsey,  Age   19. 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  PIONEERS 

Untamed,   unconquered,   and   unclaimed, 
A  paradise  divine 
Held  out  a  beckoning  hand  to  man 
And  offered  peace  sublime. 

Tired,  worn,  weary,  and  pursued, 

These  valiant  pioneers 
With  hearts  as  light  as   the  noonday  sun 

Set  forth  without  a  fear. 

Sickness,  death,  and  misery, 

"Ah,  God,  help  us  to  bear," 
Was  the  cry  sent  up  to  heaven, 

"And  lead  us  over  there." 

Hardships,  cold,  and  hunger, 

A  battle  to  be  fought, 
Yet  God  gave  His  glory 

For  those  who  faltered  not. 

A  prayer,  a  song,  a  tear,  a  smile, 

"Our  journey's  at  an  end, 
And  God  be  glorified  on  earth; 

His  word  we  shall  defend," 

— Millie  Rue  Romney,  Age  17. 


MY  GIFTS 

T  CANNOT  bring  you  costly  gifts  or  gold, 
*  Or  any  of  these  material  things  one  sees; 
My  offerings  are  small,  quite  worn,  and  old, 
But  given  to  you  gladly;  my  gifts  are  these: 
I  give  you  all  the  beauty  in  my  heart, 
The  sound  of  chanting  rain  on  window  sills, 
Forgotten  melodies  that  seem  a  part 
Of  other  worlds,  and  brooding,  lonely  hills; 
I  give  you  all  the  love  I've  stored  away, 
And  all  the  small  and  misty  dreams  of  mine; 
I  offer  you  my  heart  in  words  I  say, 
In  stumbling,  little  words  I  try  to  rhyme. 

Beauty,  my  dreams,  and  love  I  offer  you — 

Uncostly,  simple  gifts;  Dear,  will  they  do? 

— Barbara  Parrish,  Age  20. 


WIND 


Nature  was  laughing  to  herself,  today. 
I  found  her  in  the  hills  all  drunk  with 
mirth. 
She  teased  the  trees  into  a  mad  ballet 
And  taught   the  sky  to  kiss  the  flustered 

earth. 
She   wrinkled   up   the  stream   and    messed 

the  grass 
And  broke  a  cloud  and  laughed  in  the  lake's 

face, 
And  for  confetti  grabbed  a  crackling  mass 
Of  leaves,  and  threw  them  with  unham- 
pered grace. 
I  knew  for  this,  though,  Nature  was  too  old, 
And  smilingly  I  watched  her  petulance 
Until  upon  my  hand  I  felt  light  hold, 
Until  my  feet  began  a  whirling  dance, 
Until  I  knew  the  sky  was  in  my  hair 
And    that   young    Nature   was   beside   me 
there. 

— Lucile  Jones,  Age  20. 


MOON  EGGS 

The  moon 
Tonight, 
Built  a  nest  in  my  heart, 
And  there  she  sits 
Brooding  strange  thoughts. 
What  will  they  be  like 
When  the  shells  break? 

— -Cetia  Larsen. 


SPRING 

By  Anna  Johnson 

I  have  seen  spring 
Come  down  the  rugged  mountains; 
I  have  seen  her  spread  green  shawls 
Upon  the  shoulders  of  gray  hills; 
I  have  seen  her  jewels 
Scattered  in  magic  blooms 
Across  the  billowed  blankets 
Of  a  quivering  sea 
Of  meadow  grass. 

I   have  seen  her  friendly   fragrance 
Shed  on  lone  frontiers 
Where  heroes  of  a  former  day 
Lay  down  to  nightly  dreams 
On  sage-drenched  knolls. 
I've  felt  her  breath 
When  perfume  from  her  touch 
Rose  up  like  wreathes  of  flame 
To  twine  among  the  stars. 
Her  incense  filled  the  air 
And  changed  the  distant  hills 
To  altars  flaming  with  the  gifts  of  gods. 
I've  seen  her  walk 
With  silver-sandaled   feet 
On  clean  gold  sand 
That  bands  the  sea. 
Always  she  was  clad 
In  emerald  robes, 
Bright  with  the  sparkle  of  rain 
And  fresh  as  a  breeze  at  dawn. 

Today  she  sits  in  the  river  mist 
Where  gray-roofed  sheds 
Are  solidly  arrayed 
Along  the  shore. 
She  weeps  bitterly 
Because  she  is  splattered 
With  the  grime  of  city  streets. 


MY  GARDEN 
By  Clara  Plant  Hansen 

J  SEE  two  little  pink  seashells; 

They're  listening  all  the  while. 
I  see  a  sweet  red  tulip 

That  opens  in  a  smile. 

I  see  two  blue  forget-me-nots, 
And,  yes,  I  see  them  wink! 

And  next,  a  button  daisy — 
My  baby's  nose,  faint  pink. 

And  hovering  o'er  my  garden, 

Aflutter  in  the  air, 
I  see  two  pretty  butterflies — 

My  baby's  hands  so  fair. 
■  ♦  ■ . 

MY  MOTHER 

By  Mary  Butler  Watkins 

Y  Mother,  sweet  angel,  in  thinking   of 
you 

A  rainbow  enfolds  me  with  light, 
Illumining  all  the  good  thoughts  that  I  knew 
And  making  my  future  more  bright. 

My  words  are  your  words  spoken  out  of 
my  mouth; 
My  thoughts  are  your  thoughts  in   dis- 
guise, 
And  many  a  time  I'm  just  writing  for  you: 
To  me  it  is  such  a  surprise. 

I'll  play  my  poor  part  in  fulfilling  your  wish, 
Continuing  what  you've  begun, 

But  if  ever  I  meet  with  a  little  success, 
It  is  yours,  for  the  two  are  as  one. 


M 


MEMORIAL  DAY 
By   Maryhale    Woolsey 

HERE  in  this  quiet  place  of  sun  and  shade 
Where  spring  has  entered  in  her  gen- 
tlest mood — 
Here  where  birds  feel  the  sacred  solitude, 
And  mute  the  songs  their  vibrant  throats 

have  made — 
Here  where  our  loved   and  lost  ones   lie 
asleep, 
Wrapped  in  the  last  frail  beauty  we  could 

give- 
Here  we  may  kneel,  and  for  a  moment  live 
With  them  again,  though  graves  be  still  and 
deep. 

It  is  no  futile  gesture — that  we  place 

Our  fragrant  gifts  their  hands  may  never 

touch; 
The  love  that  prompts  our  giving   is  so 

much 
Beyond  the  mean  control  of  time  and  space 
That  it  can  find  and  reach  them  where 

they  are, 
Who  smile  with  God  beside  some  distant 

star. 


A  WISH 

(For  Mother  in  Heaven) 

By  Mrs.  W.  F.  Eberling 

Tall  hollyhocks  are  blooming  beside  my 
garden  wall, 
And  as  their  blossoms  wither  and  silently 

they  fall, 
I  pray  that  up  in  Heaven,  by  your  mansion, 

God  has  made 
A  row  of  crimson  hollyhocks  with  blooms 
that  never  fade. 

You    used    to    touch    our   blossoms,    while 

swift  tears  blinded  me 
As   I   thought   of  all   earth's   beauty   your 

blind  eyes  could  not  see; 
But  today  my  heart  is  singing,  for  I  know 

beyond  the  skies 
You  are  viewing   Heaven's  glories  with  a 

pair  of  clear,  new  eyes. 

They  say  there  is  no  nightfall  in  that  lovely 

unseen  land, 
But  I  hope  God  sends  one  sunset,  and  that 

at  His  command 
There  will  be  a  golden,  yellow  dawn  to 

start  your  eternal  day, 
And   after  that  glad  springtime,   with   one 

perpetual  May. 

.  ♦  ■        

MY  HOLY  SHRINE 

By  Irene  Jones 

Tn  baby  days,  with  baby  ways, 

*  When  grief  or  joy  o'erwhelmed  me, 

To  Mother's  knee  I'd  always  flee, 

Where  peace  and  quiet  realmed  me. 

That  Holy  Shrine  was  ever  mine, 

To  penance  or  to  bless  me; 

Her  love  was  such,  that  God's  own  touch 

Seemed  hers  when  she'd  caress  me. 

The  years  have  sped;  new  paths  I  tread; 

Her  earthly  presence  left  me; 

Her  spirit  dear,  I  feel  it  near; 

Her  death  has  not  bereft  me. 

Within  my  heart,  I  have  a  part 

Of  heaven  to  constrain  me; 

That  Holy  Shrine — it  still  is  mine, 

An  angel  to  sustain  me. 


MY   MOTHER 

By  Evelyn  Wilde  Heath 

God  took  the  light  from  the  smiling  day 
Where  the  autumn  sunset  dies,1 
From  this  and  gold  and  brown  leaves  which 
clung,  | 

He  made  my  mother's  eyes. 

And  just  at  twilight,  when  Heaven  draws 
near, 

From  soft,  clinging  shadows  there, 
With  shimmering  rays  from  a  silvery  moon, 

He  made  my  mother's  hair. 

With  careful  fingers,  and  sculptor's  ease, 
From  peace  and  celestial  grace, 

He  took  the  beauty  of  life  and  love, 
And  molded  my  mother's  face. 

From  soft,  sweet  notes  of  a  tender  song 

That  angels  hear  and  rejoice, 
Mingled  with  echoes  of  ringing  bells, 

He  made  my  mother's  voice. 

From  the  glory  of  the  rising  sun, 
Where  faith  and  courage  start, 

From  hope  and  joy  of  a  glorious  dawn, 
God  made  my  mother's  heart. 
■  ♦  ■ 

GRANNY'S  LILAC  TREE 
By  Edna  S.  Dustin 

A  n  old  lilac  tree  that's  not  very  tall 
*"*■  Is  leaning  on  Granny's  kitchen  wall; 
Stooping  down,  it's  looking  into  a  pane 
Of  a  low-hung  window  now  washed  by  rain. 

Does  it  long  for  the  fragrance  of  fresh  amber 

bread 
That  came  from  the  window  just  back  of 

its  head, 
Of  oatmeal  cookies,  preserving  jam, 
A  chicken  stewing,  or  a  roasting  yam — 

Those  days  long  ago  in  a  jaded  gown 
With  clusters  of  lavender  bells  for  a  crown, 
Primping  in  Granny's  window  pane 
That  shone  like  a  mirror  without  a  stain? 

This  old  lilac  is  stooped  and  wrinkled  today; 
In   its   thin   jade   shawl    there's   an    orchid 

nosegay, 
As  it  leans  on  a  wall,  looking  into  a  pane 
Of   a  low-hung   window,   now  washed  by 

rain. 


A  YOUNG  MOTHER'S  PRAYER 
By  Jeannette  H.  Demars 

Give  me  the  strength  to  guide  aright 
These  tiny  feet   that   follow  me; 
A  deep,  abiding  inner  sight 
When    chubby  hands   cling   trustingly, 
That  I  may  choose  the  pathway  sure 
And  free  from  strife  and  deadly  sin. 
Give  me  a  faith  that's  true  and  pure, 
A  sacred  flame  to  burn  within. 
Then  keep  my  hand  in  Thine,  O  Lord; 
Let  love  and  wisdom  come  from  Thee, 
That  I  may  worthy  be  to  guard 
This  precious  soul  Thou  gavest  me. 
■  ♦  ■ 

YOUNG  MAN'S  FANCY 

By  Ethelyn  Miller  Hartwich 

TC'very  Maytime  holds  the  essence 
■*— '  Of  all  the  springs  since  earth  began, 
And  white  young  moons  in  slender  crescents 
Link  eons  in  the  heart  of  man, 
Till  all  the  lovers  of  the  ages 
Appear  as  one  upon  time's  pages. 

285 


DEATH  TAKES  CHURCH 
MISSION  SECRETARY 

Tnexpected  death  came  April  1  to 
*•"*'  Harold  Godfrey  Reynolds,  56, 
Church  mission  secretary  and  trans- 
portation agent.  Elder  Reynolds  had 
been  making  satisfactory  recovery  from 
a  recent  operation  when  he  died  sud- 
denly. 

He  leaves  a  record  of  long  and  faith- 
ful Church  service :  He  served  as  mis- 
sionary to  Germany  from  1903-1905, 
and  labored  six  months  in  England. 
For  twenty-one  years  he  filled  a  place 
on  the  General  Board  of  the  Deseret 
Sunday  School  Union;  was  a  member 
of  the  Ensign  Stake  High  Council,  and 
one  time  stake  superintendent  of  reli- 
gion classes.  In  1924,  he  was  ordained 
by  President  Heber  }.  Grant  as  bishop 
of  the  Twenty-first  Ward,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  until  1939,  when  he  became 
a  member  of  the  Yalecrest  Ward.  He 
held  membership  in  several  civic  clubs. 

Members  of  the  immediate  family 
surviving  him  are  his  widow,  Ann 
A.  Howarth  Reynolds;  two  sons,  Har- 
old G.  Reynolds  and  Ralph  H.  Rey- 
nolds; and  two  daughters,  Betsy  Rey- 
nolds Cannon  and  Marian  Reynolds. 

"CHURCH  OF  THE  AIR" 
HEARS  ELDER  RICHARDS 
An  Easter  morning  address  by  Elder 
*"*  Stephen  L  Richards  of  the  Council 
of  the  Twelve  was  delivered  in  the 
Tabernacle  and  heard  on  Columbia 
Broadcasting  System's  "Church  of  the 
Air."  Special  music  was  sung  by  the 
Tabernacle  Choir,  whose  regular  week- 
ly national  broadcast  the  "Church  of 
the  Air"  half  hour  immediately  fol- 
lowed. 

CHOIR  RECORDINGS 
HEARD  ON  SIGNIFICANT 
EXPERIMENTAL  PROGRAM 

[  isteners  in  Carnegie  Hall,  April  9 
"^  and  10,  heard  music  of  the  Taber- 
nacle Choir  and  Organ  on  the  same 
program  with  Leopold  Stokowski's 
Philadelphia  Symphony  Orchestra, 
Paul  Robeson,  and  other  artists.  The 
concerts,  representing  the  fruit  of  long 
research  on  the  part  of  Bell  Telephone 
Laboratories,  endeavored  to  show  the 
possibility  of  recording  and  reproduc- 
ing original  music  without  loss  of  any 
sound  that  the  ear  could  have  heard 
initially,  and  with  an  actual  enhance- 
ment of  artistic  performance  in  ac- 
cord with  the  interpretation  of  the  or- 
iginal director. 

Dr.  Harvey  Fletcher  of  the  Bell  Tele- 
phone Laboratories,  and  president  of 
the  New  York  Stake  in  the  Church, 
directed  the  research  that  supplied  the 
equipment  and  technique  for  this  dem- 

286 


onstration  of  stereophonic  reproduc- 
tion of  enhanced  music. 

TAHITIAN  MISSION 
HEAD  APPOINTED 

Dugene  M.  Cannon,  former  bishop 
■L'  of  the  Forest  Dale  Ward  and 
founder  and  president  of  the  Cannon 
Insurance  Company  in  Salt  Lake  City, 
has  been  named  to  succeed  President 
Kenneth  R.    Stevens    as  head   of   the 


KENNETH    R.   STEVENS 


EUGENE    M.    CANNON 


Tahitian  Mission.  President  Cannon, 
who  filled  a  first  mission  to  Tahiti  from 
1893  to  1896,  plans  to  leave  for  the 
islands  in  July  or  August,  to  be  accom- 
panied by  his  wife,  Edna  Lambert  Can- 
non. 

President  Stevens  will  return  to  his 
position  in  the  bacteriology  department 
at  the  Utah  State  Agricultural  College, 
from  which  he  obtained  a  leave  of  ab- 
sence two  years  ago  to  preside  over  the 
mission.  He  will  be  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  Iona  B.  Stevens,  and  children, 
Vera,  Catherine,  Marva,  and  Kenneth 
Richards  Stevens,  Jr. 


him-On 


WEST'S  OLDEST 
STAKE  DIVIDED 

r\iviSiON  on  March  24  of  historic  Salt 
Lake  Stake,  oldest  and  largest  of 
existing  stakes  in  the  Church,  created 
a  smaller  Salt  Lake  Stake  retaining  the 
Fourteenth,  Seventeenth,  Nineteenth, 
Twenty-second,  Twenty-third,  Twen- 
ty-fourth, and  Capitol  Hill  wards,  and 
a  new  Riverside  Stake,  comprising  the 
Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  Twenty-eighth, 
Twenty-ninth,  Thirty-fourth,  and  Cen- 
ter wards. 

John  B.  Matheson,  Salt  Lake  City 
commissioner  and  first  counselor  in  the 
old  Salt  Lake  Stake,  was  named  presi- 
dent of  the  new  unit,  with  Gus  Dyer 
of  the  stake  high  council  and  La  Verre 
V.  Adams  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Ward 
bishopric,  as  his  counselors. 

President  Wilford  A.  Beesley  will 
continue  to  preside  over  the  new  Salt 
Lake  Stake,  with  former  second  coun- 
selor Irvin  S.  Noall  advanced  to  first 
counselor.  Franklin  J.  Murdock,  for- 
mer president  of  the  Netherlands  Mis- 
sion, was  named  second  counselor.. 

The  east-west  division,  which  gives 
each  stake  approximately  fifty-five 
hundred  members,  keeps  Temple 
Square  and  other  landmarks  significant 
in  Church  history  properly  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Salt  Lake  Stake,  with 
which  they  have  been  identified  since 
pioneer  days. 

Elders  Albert  E.  Bowen  of  the 
Council  of  the  Twelve  and  Samuel  O. 
Bennion  of  the  First  Council  of  Sev- 
enty represented  the  General  Authori- 
ties at  the  quarterly  conference  where 
reorganization  was  effected. 


MISSIONARIES    LEAVING    FOR   THE    FIELD    FROM    THE   SALT    LAKE    MISSIONARY    HOME 
ARRIVED    MARCH   18,  1940— DEPARTED   MARCH   28,  1940 

First  row,  left  to  right:  Don  James  Chadwick,  Joseph  Stoddard  Allen,  Alice  Lauper,  Zinna  Zaugg,  Emily 
Brooks,  Mrs.  Hilda  Mae  Stutzman,   Howard  C.  Bennett,  and  Donald   F.  Schmutz. 

Second  row:  Evan  Moore  Thomas,  Joseph  Stahmann  Morris,  Lucy  Marian  Springer,  Elizabeth  Spackman, 
President  Don  B.  Colton,  Isabel  Ida  Durtschi,  Lois  Nichols,  Clarence  J.  Hatch,  and  William  Grant  Haynes. 

Third  row:  Wayne  Phillips  Standage,  Robert  Louis  Clegg,  M.  Vaughn  Bitner,  Virginia  Sorensen,  Leonard 
Hardy  Windmill,  Orvis  Dilworth,  Dean  W.  Toone,  and  Ernest  H.  Burk. 

Fourth  row:  Sylvan  Howard  Morley,  Donald  C.  Frei,  Earl  Holt  Warner,  John  Bernhardt  Meredith,  Lawrence 
Roberts   Rast,   John   Roberts,  Van    Neldon   Lybbert,  Ted   Berry   Eason,  and  Willis   Brown   Mason. 

Fifth  row:  Gordon  Solon  Johnson,  John  LeRoy  Jones,  William  J.  Tippetts,  Maurice  H.  Balls,  Max  Herbert 
Skinner,  Leon  Ross  Milner,  William  Alman  Brim,  and  Julian  C.  Lowe. 

Sixth  row:  Edward  J.  Cooley,  Alvin  Ed  ling  Fors,  Allen  Ruesch,  Ernest  LeRoy  Allred,  James  Lewis  Johnson, 
Harold  Stuart  Steed,  Lyndon  Arthur  Dean,  Mack  Lloyd  Gleave,  and  Kenneth  B.  Taylor. 

Seventh  row:  Alfred  Call  Cordon,  Jr.;  Merlin  K.  Fish;  Wm.  Berrett,  Instructor;  Jean  Ivins  Robertson; 
and  Preston  William  Adair. 


NEW  INSTITUTES, 
CHAPELS  DEDICATED 

'T'wo  institutes  of  religion  and  several 
chapels  were  among  Church  build- 
ings dedicated  recently  by  General 
Authorities : 

On  March  31,  Elder  John  A.  Widt- 
soe  formally  dedicated  the  $30,000  Ce- 
dar City  Institute  adjacent  to  the 
Branch  Agricultural  College  campus. 
Gustive  O.  Larson  is  institute  director. 

At  Parowan  on  the  same  day,  Dr. 
Widtsoe  also  dedicated  the  recently 
completed  seminary,  which  offers  week- 
day religious  education  for  high  school 
students.  A.  Noble  Kimball  is  princi- 
pal. Dr.  Franklin  L.  West,  Church 
Commissioner  of  Education,  spoke  at 
both  the  Cedar  City  and  Parowan 
dedications. 

Elder  Joseph  F.  Merrill  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  the  Twelve  on  March  24,  offered 
the  dedicatory  prayer  and  address  at 
the  Tremonton  Second  Ward  chapel 
and  recreation  hall,  where  James  Wal- 
ton is  bishop.  Constructed  in  less  than 
one  year,  the  building  cost  $55,000. 

The  Inverury  Ward  chapel,  now  to 
be  known  as  the  Central  Ward,  South 
Sevier  Stake,  built  largely  by  volunteer 
labor  on  the  part  of  ward  members, 
was  dedicated  March  31  by  Bishop  M. 
O.  Ashton  of  the  Presiding  Bishopric. 
Leland  S.  Gray  is  ward  bishop. 

February  4,  1940 

President  Heber  C.  Williams  and 
his  counselors,  S.  Ross  Hunt  and  Levi 
Sorensen,  of  the  North  Sevier  Stake 
presidency,  were  released  and  succeed- 
ed by  Edwin  Sorensen,  president; 
Charles  C.  Bosshardt,  first  counselor; 
and  Karl  Stott,  second  counselor. 

Irvin  L.  Warnock  was  appointed 
president  and  William  L.  Warner  and 
Alten  Christensen  named  counselors  in 
the  new  presidency  of  the  Sevier  Stake, 
succeeding  President  W.  Eugene  Poul- 
son  and  counselors  Thomas  Ray  Gled- 
hill  and  Frank  M.  Ogden. 

February  25,  1940 

Maxwell  Park  Ward,  Oakland 
Stake,  was  created  by  a  division  of 
the  Dimond  and  Elmhurst  wards.  Rob- 
ert T.  Paine  was  named  bishop,  with 
Clarence  J.  Brossard  and  Truman 
Nethercott,  counselors. 

March  16,  1940 

Ground  was  broken  for  the  $260,000 
Oahu  Stake  Tabernacle,  Honolulu,  Ha- 
waii. Elder  Charles  A.  Callis  of  the 
Council  of  the  Twelve  and  Presiding 
Bishop  LeGrand  Richards  attended  the 
ceremony. 

March  31,  1940 

Tracy  Y.  Cannon,  director  of  the 
McCune  School  of  Music  and  Art  and 
chairman  of  the  Church  General  Mu- 
sic Committee,  was  guest  speaker  at 
the  Music  Teachers'  National  Associ- 
ation conference  at  Los  Angeles.  At- 
tracted by  the  progress  made  through 
Church  music  institutes  in  training 
choristers  and  organists  to  raise  the 
standards  of  devotional  music,  officers 
of  the  association  asked  Elder  Cannon 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


Swiss  Mission  group,  last  of  European 
missionaries  to  evacuate.  Standing, 
left  to  right:  Jesse  H.  Monson,  sec-: 
retary;  Louise  McKay,  President  Thorn-! 
as  E.  McKay,  Sister  Fawn  B.  McKay, 
Lewis  W.  Smith,  Nephi  S.  Allen. 
Kneeling:  Albert  J.  Beutler,  Guy  B, 
Alexander. 


"The  Exodus" — Swiss  missionaries 
leaving  headquarters  on  Leimenstrasse 
49,  Basel,  for  America. 


to  speak  on  "How  To  Secure  Adequate 
Leadership." 

April  29,  1940 

Tooele  County  company  members 
of  the  Daughters  of  Utah  Pioneers 
placed  a  marker  on  the  old  Tooele 
Ward  Chapel,  now  called  the  First 
Ward,  noting  the  seventieth  anniver- 
sary of  the  first  permanent  chapel  in 
Tooele. 

CANNING  COMMITTEE 
NEW  WELFARE  UNIT 

"^EWEST  group  appointed  to  operate 
^  under  the  Church  Welfare  Plan  is 
an  important  canning  and  processing 
committee  which  will  be  responsible  for 
proper  production,  packing,  and  stor- 
ing of  canned  and  processed  foods  to 
take  care  of  Welfare  Plan  needs 
throughout  the  Church.  Verner  O. 
Hewlett,  president  of  Hewlett  Brothers 
Co.,  has  been  named  chairman  of  the 
committee,  which  includes  the  follow- 
ing members :  Dell  B.  Stringham,  Frank 
D.  Ashdown;  Sterling  H.  Nelson,  repre- 
senting the  general  committee;  Elmo 
H.  Lund,  secretary;  and  Roscoe  W. 
Eardley,  storehouse  supervisor. 

HOST  OF  FRIENDS  HONORS 
GEORGE  ALBERT  SMITH 
AS  HE  REACHES  70 

(~\n  the  occasion  of  his   seventieth 

^  birthday,  April  4,  Elder  George 
Albert  Smith  of  the  Council  of  the 
Twelve  was  honored  at  a  special  public 
reception  in  historic  Lion  House. 
Friends  numbering  into  the  thousands 
were  greeted  by  the  loved  churchman 
and  civic  leader  in  the  course  of  the 
evening,  particularly  friends  and  asso- 
ciates from  the  M.  I.  A.,  Boy  Scouts 
of  America,  Utah  Pioneer  Trails  and 
Landmarks  Association,  Society  for  the 
Aid  of  the  Sightless,  and  Sons  of  the 


American  Revolution,  organizations  in 
which  Elder  Smith  has  been  especially 
active.  As  part  of  the  program,  the 
Columbia  Broadcasting   System  origi- 


GE0RGE  ALBERT  SMITH  AS  HE  WAS  PHOTO- 
GRAPHED AMONG  THE  TALL  TREES  OF  HAWAII 
ABOUT  TWO  YEARS  AGO. 


nated  a  broadcast  from  the  Lion  House 
in  his  honor. 

Children  of  Elder  Smith  who  •  pre- 
pared the  reception,  Mrs.  Robert  Mur- 
ray Stewart,   Mrs.  George  O.  Elliott, 
(Concluded  on  page  310) 
287 


fcdibfiiaL 


d  Jsnih.  4.  What? 


pREQUENT  among  the  inquiries  that  come  to 
our  desk  are  those  that  pertain  to  the  payment 
of  tithing.  Not  that  the  principle  itself  is  called 
into  question,  but  in  the  individual  application  of 
the  principle  it  appears  that  there  has  been  much 
discussion  in  various  places  throughout  the  Church, 
which  has  led  many  to  ask  the  question:  a  tenth  of 
what? 

There  is  nothing  new  that  can  be  said  on  the 
subject,  and  it  is  not  our  purpose  within  these  brief 
paragraphs  to  review  the  scriptural  and  historical 
aspects  of  it.  In  the  matter  of  bringing  offerings 
before  the  Lord,  the  children  of  men  have  divided 
themselves  into  two  classes  at  least  as  far  back  as 
Cain  and  Abel,  with  a  third  class  arising  from  some- 
where who  offer  neither  the  first  fruits,  nor  the 
"seconds,"  nor  anything  of  their  increase. 

For  purposes  of  tithing,  what  constitutes  interest 
or  increase  or  income  each  must  determine  for  him- 
self. But  certainly  it  is  not  merely  what  is  left 
after  a  man  has  taken  out  his  living,  and  that  of 
his  family,  and  deducted  all  expenses.  Nor  is  it 
what  we  have  left  over;  nor  what  we  think  we  can 
spare;  nor  what  suits  our  convenience.  Nor  is 
tithing  a  "courtesy"  payment,  nor  an  occasional 
indifferent  contribution. 

While  the  law  of  tithing  is  not  defined  with  the 
precision  of  taxation,  neither  is  it  satisfied  by  a 
grudging  spirit  or  a  scheming  heart  or  a  salved 
conscience.  Nor  is  it  subject  to  deductions  for 
time  spent  in  Church  work;  nor  does  it  allow  offsets 
for  other  contributions  to  the  Church  activities 
or  other  worthy  charities  or  causes. 

As  are  all  other  laws  of  the  Gospel,  tithing  is 
both  temporal  and  spiritual.  Compliance  with  it 
requires  both  a  physical  act  and  an  inward  accept- 
ance, and  brings  both  temporal  and  spiritual  re- 
wards— which  fact  is  doubted  only  by  those  who 
have  not  brought  themselves  to  inward  and  outward 
compliance. 

If  there  be  those  who  would  quibble  about 
amounts  and  offsets,  and  expenses  and  deductions 
and  who  would  seek  for  loopholes  in  the  wording 
of  the  law — as  men  are  so  often  wont  to  do  both 
in  civil  and  ecclesiastical  affairs — let  all  such  be 
reminded  that  in  response  to  the  supplication  voiced 
in  1838  by  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith:  "O  Lord, 
show  unto  thy  servants  how  much  thou  requirest 
of  the  properties  of  thy  people  for  a  tithing,"  there 
came  the  answer:  "Verily  thus  saith  the  Lord,  I 
require  all  their  surplus  property.  .  .  .  And  after 
that,  those  who  have  thus  been  tithed  shall  pay  one- 
tenth  of  all  their  interest  annually.  .  .  .  And  I  say 
unto  you,  if  my  people  observe  not  this  law,  .  .  . 
it  shall  not  be  a  land  of  Zion  unto  you."  ( Doctrine 
and  Covenants  119:1,  3,6.)     [Italics  ours.] 

And  so  it  may  be  seen  that  there  is  ample  reason 
for  extending  broadly  the  base  on  which  tithing  is 
paid,  and  little  justification  for  squeezing  it  within 
narrow  limits.  There  are  many  throughout  the 
Church  who  have  made  a  lifetime  practice  of  paying 
tithing  on  every  dollar  or  commodity  that  passes 
through  their  hands  to  which  they  have  personal 
title,  whether  by  gift  or  as  reward  for  labor — 
and  who  then  respond  willingly  to  other  calls  and 


who  do  very  little  talking  about  it;  and  it  would  be 
safe  to  say  that  they  are  the  least  critical  members 
of  the  Church.  It  is  a  provable  fact  also,  that 
"happy  and  blest  are  they." 

After  all,  tithing  is  a  matter  in  which  two  are 
concerned — a  man,  and  his  Father  in  Heaven;  and 
in  such  matters  we  do  not  resort  to  ledger-juggling 
and  conscience-quieting.  "Verily  I  say  unto  you  all 
.  .  .  who  know  their  hearts  are  honest  .  .  .  they 
are  accepted  of  me."  (Doctrine  and  Covenants 
97:8.)—R.L.E. 

JhsL-WUUswmaL  SiwC' 

["Respite  war  and  all  its  attendant  adversities,  the 
Millennial  Star  still  makes  its  regular  appear- 
ance in  Great  Britain,  as  it  has  done  for  one  hundred 
years  this  month. 

The  remarkable  record  of  this  oldest  existing 
Church  publication  is  a  tribute  to  all  who  have 
contributed  to  its  successful  persistency  from  the 
beginning.  Many  of  the  greatest  minds  and  pens 
of  the  Church  have  been  identified  with  it.  It  has 
recorded  tragedy  and  success,  persecution  and 
vindication,  slander  and  praise,  mobbings  and 
achievements,  deeds  of  darkness  and  glorious 
revelations  from  the  Almighty. 

Changes  of  style,  content,  and  format  may  be 
observed  from  time  to  time,  but  its  mission  among 
the  people  whom  it  serves  has  never  slackened. 
May  the  Millennial  Star,  and  the  faithful  members 
of  the  Church  among  whom  it  is  a  weekly  messen- 
ger, see  longer  life  and  brighter  days,  and  glorious 
things  to  come. — R.  L.  E. 

Snxiwsdlijnq^  $jodjcL 

Tn  every  person  lies  a  potential  greatness  which  if 

cultivated  will  add  to  the  world  at  least  one 
needed  thing.  As  no  two  blades  of  grass  are 
exactly  alike,  so  no  two  persons  are  identical.  Each 
has  a  gift,  an  ability,  which,  if  developed,  will  bring 
an  added  glory  to  the  world. 

This  ability  may  be  nothing  more  than  a  gift  for 
laughter.  Yet  who  shall  say  that  laughter  is  not 
the  thing  most  needed  now,  when  all  the  world 
seems  crowded  to  overflowing  with  serious,  nay, 
deadly,  things?  This  laughter  would  be  the  clean 
kind  that  leaves  the  one  who  laughs  and  the  one 
who  hears  refreshed  and  kindly  toward  the  world 
at  large.  It  would  not  be  of  a  blatant,  careless  kind 
that  makes  the  world  seem  to  be  an  unclean  place. 

The  ability  may  be  a  gift  of  friendship,  and  who 
dare  say  that  this  power  of  friendship  may  not  point 
the  way  to  a  safer,  saner  way  of  friendliness  in 
larger  units?  The  ability  may  be  a  capacity  for 
understanding  people.  Who  does  not  need  this 
ability  to  understand  those  with  whom  he  mingles? 

This  seed  of  greatness  which  lies  within  each 
of  us  needs  nurture;  without  that  nurture,  it  will 
lie  dormant,  valueless  to  ourselves  and  to  others. 
With  care,  it  will  mature,  and  its  growth  will  add 
beauty  for  the  spirit  of  men,  provide  shade  to  succor 
the  faint  and  weary,  produce  fruits  to  sustain  life. 

Let  no  man  say  that  he  is  not  needed  in  this 
world;  let  him  rather  seek  for  his  potential  greatness 
that  he  may  cultivate  it  for  his  own  satisfaction  and 
for  the  greater  good  of  mankind. — M.  C.  /. 


288 


Evidences  and 
reconciliations 

xxv.    What  Liu  Bul  WjlIl&xuisl 
x>^  ihsL  Old  Jsi&tamswL? 

HThe  contents  of  the  Old  Testament  center  upon 
the  hisLory  of  t',.?  peo;;ie  chosen  of  God  to  ac- 
complish a  mighty  pnrpcse,  a  people  who  because 
of  their  own  action.;  passed  through  periods  of 
progress  and  degeneracy.  In  telling  the  story, 
the  writers  have  sought  to  show  that  obedience  to 
divine  laws  of  conduct  leads  to  joy,  while  disobe- 
dience brings  only  sorrow  and  defeat.  In  that 
respect  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament  are 
universal — fitted  for  any  people,  at  any  time. 

To  drive  home  the  lesson,  every  literary  device 
is  used.  History  appears,  especially  of  contempo- 
raneous events.  There  is  constant  resort  to  formal 
preaching  and  teaching.  Poetry,  allegory,  figures 
of  speech,  parables  are  employed  with  powerful 
effect.  Everywhere,  the  knowledge  of  the  day, 
sometimes  limited,  is  reflected  in  the  telling  of  the 
story.  Intelligent  readers  always  separate  the  mes- 
sage of  a  book  from  its  form  of  presentation.  That 
must  be  done  in  reading  the  Bible,  if  its  true  mean- 
ing is  to  be  caught. 

The  principles  of  truth,  the  Gospel,  have  been 
taught  by  the  Lord  to  man,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  human  race.  At  times,  men  have  been  divinely 
inspired  to  commit  to  writing  the  eternal  truths  per- 
taining to  human  existence.  Thus  have  come  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

Nevertheless,  though  the  doctrine  contained  in 
the  Old  Testament  has  been  given  by  the  Lord, 
the  actual  writing  has  been  done  by  mortal  men, 
in  their  own  language.  This  is  always  so.  The 
Lord,  speaking  to  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith,  said, 
"These  commandments  are  of  me,  and  were  given 
unto  my  servants  in  their  weakness,  after  the  man- 
ner of  their  language,  that  they  might  come  to 
understanding."  That  is,  the  Lord  does  His  work 
in  our  behalf  through  earthly  instruments.  Natur- 
ally, therefore,  in  outward  form  there  may  be  errors, 
or  we  may  misunderstand;  but  in  inner  substance, 
the  eternal  truth  is  preserved  for  those  who  read 
understandingly.  This  doctrine  has  been  stated  in 
unusual  beauty  by  Moroni,  "Thou  hast  also  made 
our  words  powerful  and  great,  even  that  we  cannot 
write  them;  wherefore,  when  we  write  we  behold 
our  weakness  and  stumble  because  of  the  placing 
of  our  words;  and  I  fear  lest  the  Gentiles  shall  mock 
at  our  words." 

Further,  it  is  well  known  that  the  original  manu- 
scripts of  the  Old  Testament  have  passed  through 
numerous  hands  before  they  reaiched  the  form 
available  to  us.  They  were  copied  by  hand.  In- 
accurate as  well  as  accurate,  dishonest  as  well  as 
honest,  unbelieving  as  well  as  believing  scribes  have 
had  access  to  them.  Material  may  have  been  added 
or  taken  away;  mutilations  may  have  occurred; 
through  misunderstandings,  or  by  deliberate  act, 
errors  and  changes  may  have  crept  into  the  text. 
In  the  words  of  Joseph  Smith,  the  Prophet,  "I  be- 


lieve the  Bible  as  it  read  when  it  came  from  the  pen 
of  the  original  writers.  Ignorant  translators,  care- 
less transcribers,  or  designing  and  corrupt  priests 
have  committed  many  errors." 

The  human  element  in  the  formation  of  the  Old 
Testament  explains  many  things  otherwise  obscure. 
There  are  many  episodes  in  the  Old  Testament  that 
suggest  a  lack  of  respect  for  human  life.  Undoubt- 
edly, the  Giver  of  Life  may  at  His  will  take  it. 
There  may  be  times  when  life  should  be  forfeited 
because  of  sins  committed.  Yet,  it  is  probable  that 
in  some  reported  cases,  the  Lord  has  been  credited 
with  commands  that  came  from  the  lips  of  the 
human  leaders  of  the  day.  It  is  to  be  observed  also 
that  ancient  Israel  altogether  too  often  adopted 
practices  peculiar  to  the  primitive  peoples  of  the 
day,  rather  than  those  revealed  by  the  Lord.  Sim- 
ilarly, there  are  episodes  which  suggest  low  stan- 
dards of  sexual  morality,  such  as  characterized  the 
tribal  neighbors  of  ancient  Israel.  Such  immoral 
episodes  and  other  deviations  from  the  law  of 
the  Lord  seem  to  be  recorded  as  warnings.  Men 
were  no  better  then,  than  they  are  now.  But  it 
must  always  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  God  of  Israel 
thundered  to  the  people  in  the  wilderness,  "Thou 
shalt  not  kill,"  and  "Thou  shalt  not  commit 
adultery."  Never  has  there  been  an  abrogation  of 
these  commands. 

Though  allowances  must  be  made  for  human 
imperfections,  yet  the  Holy  Scriptures  have  never 
been  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  man.  The  essential 
message  of  the  Lord  to  His  children  on  earth  has 
ever  been  preserved.  The  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment bring  to  us  the  unchanging  doctrine  of  God's 
nature,  man's  relationship  to  Deity,  and  the  glor- 
ious, eternal  destiny  of  righteous,  obedient  man- 
kind. They  contain  the  most  precious  truths  of 
humanity.  They  give  the  most  complete  exposition 
of  Gods  law  for  human  conduct.  As  they  relate 
the  story  of  God's  dealings  with  His  people,  the 
nature  of  our  Father  in  Heaven  becomes  better 
understood.  Without  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, the  earth  would  be  poor  indeed. 

The  Hebrew  scriptures  rise  above  the  folklore 
of  the  nations  as  a  sun-bathed  mountain  peak  rises 
out  of  the  mists;  for  example,  the  Babylonian  Epic 
of  the  Creation  centers  around  the  battles  of  two 
gods  who  are  both  sea  monsters.  The  one  monster 
overcomes  the  other  and  from  his  body  the  earth  is 
created.    This  account  is  translated  as  follows : 

Then  took  their  stand  Tiamat  and  the  leader  of  the  gods, 

Marduk; 
For  the  fight  they  approached,  for  the  battle  they  drew  near. 
The  lord  spread  out  his  net  and  enclosed  her, 
The  evil  wind  from  behind  he  thrust  into  her  face. 
As  Tiamat  opened  her  mouth  to  its  full  extent, 
The  evil  wind  he  drove  in,  so  that  her  lips  could  not  close. 
With  the  mighty  winds  he  filled  her  belly. 
Her  courage  was  taken  away,  and  she  opened  her  mouth. 
He  let  fall  the  spear,  he  burst  open  her  belly, 
He  cut  through  her  inward  parts,  he  pierced  her  heart, 
He  bound  her  and  her  life  destroyed; 
Her  body  he  cast  down  and  stood  upon  it. 
Then  the  lord  rested,  he  gazed  upon  her  body, 
The  flesh  of  the  monster  he  divided;  he  formed  a  cunning  plan. 
He  split  her  open  like  a  flat  fish  into  two  halves; 
One  half  of  her  he  established  and  made  a  covering  of  the 

heavens. 
He  drew  a  bolt,  he  established  a  guard, 
And  not  to  let  her  waters  come  out,  he  commanded. 

(See  George  A.  Barton,  Archaeology  and  the  Bible, 
pp.  272,  273.)  {Concluded  on  page  319) 


289 


J)nMe 


UNTO  THE  HILLS 

(Richard  L.  Evans.     Harper  Brothers, 

New  York,  1940.     147  pages.    $1.50.) 

This  is  a  collection  of  the  "sermonettes" 
by  Elder  Richard  L.  Evans  accom- 
panying the  Sunday  morning  Choir  broad- 
casts from  the  Latter-day  Saint  Tabernacle 
in  Salt  Lake  City.  Among  the  millions,  in 
many  countries,  who  "tune  in"  regularly 
to  be  spiritually  fed  by  this  broadcast,  thou- 
sands have  made  written,  insistent  requests 
that  the  "sermonettes"  be  made  available 
in  permanent  form. 

In  response,  this  beautifully  printed  and 
bound  volume  presents  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  of  the  thousands  of  "sermonettes" 
delivered  by  Elder  Evans.  These  have  been 
topically  arranged  for  the  needs  and  moods 
of  the  readers.  The  five  main  divisions  are, 
"Time  and  Its  Passing;"  "O  the  Vainness 
and  the  Frailties  and  the  Foolishness  of 
Men;"  "Freedom  and  Restraint;"  "Some 
Constants  in  a  Changing  World;"  "From 
the  Record  of  Time  and  Experience;"  and 
"Toward  Endless  Things  to  Come." 

Each  item  under  these  headings  presents 
a  thought  of  profound  meaning  tending  to 
clarify  a  problem  of  life.  The  thinking  is 
clear,  applicable  to  daily  needs,  and  couched 
in  beautiful  English,  often  with  an  original, 
compelling  turn  of  phrase.  It  is  easy,  help- 
ful, and  stimulating  reading.  The  volume 
may  profitably  be  read  as  a  whole;  and  then 
reread,  thought  by  thought,  to  enrich  life. 
Many  readings  will  not  exhaust  it.  It  is 
likely  to  become  a  cherished  companion  of 
all  who  become  acquainted  with  it.  It  is  a 
volume  to  which  we  may  turn  for  comfort 
or  inspiration  as  needs  arise.  It  will  serve 
many  as  a  theme  book  for  public  addresses. 
Altogether  it  is  a  book  of  rare  value  which 
will  lift  the  souls  of  men  to  spiritual  heights 
— hence  the  title. 

An  appreciative  Foreword  by  President 
J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr.,  introduces  the  volume 
to  the  reader;  a  modest  preface  by  the  author 
follows,  and  a  valuable  appendix  gives  the 
references  to  all  quoted  passages.  The  book 
is  dedicated  "To  all  those  for  whom  life 
is  a  search." 

Latter-day  Saints  and  all  who  search  for 
the  better  life,  individuals  or  families,  would 
do  well  to  possess  and  become  familiar  with 
this  book.—/.  A.  W. 

THE  MOVING  TIDE 

(Jessie   B.  Rittenhouse.     Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  Boston.     142  pages. 
$2.00.) 

'  I  'his  slender  volume  of  verse  includes 
■*■  some  of  the  author's  best  loved  poems 
of  earlier  years  as  well  as  some  recent  un- 
published verse.  One  poem,  "My  Wage," 
it  is  good  to  keep  remembering  in  these  days 
of  doubt.  The  second  verse  should  be 
memorized : 

"For  Life  is  a  just  employer, 
He  gives  you  what  you  ask, 
But  once  you  have  set  the  wages, 
Why,  you  must  bear  the  task." 

Everyone  would  do  well  to  read  poetry 
each  day  of  his  life  because  of  its  awaken- 
ing of  the  senses  to  the  beauty  within  us  and 
around  us.  This  volume  of  poetry  will 
sharpen  the  reader's  appetite  for  fuller 
living. — M.  C,  J. 

290 


HOW  GREEN  WAS 

MY  VALLEY 

(Richard  Llewellyn.  Macmillan  Company, 

New  York.    1940.    494  pages.    $2.75.) 

Into  this  nostalgic  novel  portraying  a 
Welsh  mining  camp  goes  much  of  the 
stuff  of  family  life — regardless  of  where  it 
may  be  lived.  Understanding  between  par- 
ents and  children,  understanding  between 
employers  and  employees,  feeling  of  re- 
sponsibility of  those  who  have  superior 
ability,  all  of  these  things  enter  into  this 
delightful  volume.  Because  the  author  uses 
the  first  person  in  telling  the  story,  he  gains 
vividness.  While  not  all  of  his  experiences 
are  common  to  all  persons,  they  are  sim- 
.  ilar  enough  that  all  will  find  pleasure  in 
reading  them. — M.  C.  J. 

LEGACY 

(Christie  Lund  Coles.    Wasatch  Press, 

Salt  Lake  City,  1939.     38  pages.     $1.00.) 

THE  author  of  this  slim  volume  of  verse 
is  well-known  to  readers  of  the  .Era 
because  of  her  lovely  verse  which  has  fre- 
quented its  pages.  Her  poems  have  ap- 
peared in  Good  Housekeeping,  the  Satur- 
day Evening  Post,  Kaleidograph,  the  New 
York  Sun,  and  other  publications. 

The  book  has  a  message  to  all  readers. 
Anyone  reading  "Dark  Hour"  will  try  to 
learn  fully  the  meaning  of  friendship  and 
preserve  it.  In  "Promise,"  the  challenge  is 
given  to  live  close  to  Him  who  will  sustain 
us.  In  "White  House,"  a  woman's  ageless 
cry  for  security  in  love  will  find  an  answer- 
ing echo  in  all  women's  hearts. 

A  book  of  poetry  to  get  acquainted  with 
is  Legacy  by  Christie  Lund  Coles. — M.  C.  J. 

TESTAMENT  OF  FRIENDSHIP 

( Verax  Brittain,  Macmillan  Company,  New 

York.     1940.    412  pages.    $2.50.) 

Winifred  Holtby's  death  in  1935  rob- 
bed England  of  one  of  her  most  prom- 
ising novelists.  Miss  Brittain  is  no 
newcomer  to  the  American  field,  for  her 
Testament  of  Youth  enjoyed  wide  popu- 
larity here,  while  her  Honourable  Estate 
and  Thrice  a  Stranger  further  endeared  her 
to  the  American  public. 

In  this,  her  latest  book,  Miss  Brittain's 
and  Miss  Holtby's  friendship  is  the  medium 
used  in  depicting  a  whole  epoch  through 
the  lives  and  minds  of  those  young  people 
who  experienced  the  disastrous  results  of 
the  World  War.  Their  efforts  to  obtain  a 
lasting  peace  should  not  be  forgotten  when 
the  present  conflict  shall  once  more  have 
been  halted. 

The  delightful  English  countryside  leis- 
urely unfolds  in  this  well-written  vol- 
ume.-— M.  C.  /. 

A  HOUSE  FOR  THE  WEEK  ENDS 
(Virginia  Kirkus.    Little,  Brown  and 
Company,  Boston,  1940.    246  pages. 
$2.50.) 

This  completely  delightful  book  will  an- 
swer the  question  of  how  to  obtain  a 
house  and  make  it  into  the  ideal  home — 
whether  for  the  week  ends  or  for  all  the 
week  will  depend  a  good  deal  on  what  the 
woman  of  the  house  does  for  her  living.  In- 
to this  book  go  such  practical  details  as  how 
to  determine  the  value  of  the  house,  by 
being  sure  that  the  foundations  are  secure; 
that  the  beams  are  not  termite-ridden;  that 
the  needed  conveniences  such  as  telephone 
and  electricity  are  available;  and  that  the 
house  is  livable. 


In  fact,  this  is  the  kind  of  book  we  are 
eager  to  recommend  to  all  who  have  homes 
— or  will  have  homes — and  to  all  renters 
who  think  that  they  don't  want  to  be 
bothered  with  homes,  because  with  this  kind 
of  book,  there  will  be  an  upswing  in  home- 
buying. — M.  C.  /. 

NANSEN 

(Ann  Gertrude  Hall.     Illustrated. 
Viking  Press,  New  York,  1940. 
165  pages.    $2.50.) 

When  Fridtjof  Nansen  died  in  May, 
1930,  he  left  behind  him  a  name 
synonymous  with  exploration,  science,  and 
diplomacy.  It  seems  strange  that  one  man 
in  his  lifetime  could  encompass  all  three 
activities.  In  this  book  for  young  people, 
Miss  Hall  has  made  this  great  man  walk 
into  the  readers'  lives  as  an  example  of  what 
can  be  done,  given  a  desire  to  do  plus  the 
determination  to  achieve. 

The  book  is  well-written  and  venture- 
some enough  to  satisfy  the  most  active  boy. 
It  is  also  beautiful  enough  to  satisfy  the 
most  artistic  person,  having  been  illustrated 
by  Boris  Artzybasheff.  This  is  a  book 
which  deserves  wide  reading. — M.  C.  /. 

THESE  WERE  THE  BRONTES 
(Dorothy  H.  Cornish.    Macmillan 
Company,  New  York,  1940.     491 
pages.     $2.50.) 

Although  this  is  a  novel,  into  its  pages 
go  much  that  will  prove  helpful  to 
parents  of  young  families.  The  author  has 
a  keen  insight  into  the  minds  of  young  per- 
sons. Particularly  is  her  interpretation  of 
these  talented  young  persons  delightful. 
She  also  has  a  delicious  sense  of  humor 
and  a  keen  understanding  of  people  gen- 
erally. 

An  altogether  worthwhile  novel — this 
one  about  the  world-famous  Brontes. 

— M.  C.  /. 

THE  LAST  FLOWER 
(James  Thurber.     Harper  and  Brothers, 
New  York,  1939.     $2.00.) 

THE  subtitle  of  the  book  reads,  "A  Par- 
able in  Pictures."  To  tell  about  the 
book  is  obviously  unfair;  it  must  be  seen  to 
be  appreciated— and  it  must  be  seen!  Par- 
ents should  show  it  to  their  children,  that 
the  truth  may  be  early  sown.  When  peace 
comes,  it  will  come  because  parents  have 
sown  the  seed  in  fertile,  impressionable 
minds — and  war  will  be  unthinkable. 

— M.  C.  /. 

THERE'S  NO  PLACE  LIKE  HOME 

(James  Lee  Ellenwood.  Charles  Scrib- 
ner's  Sons,  New  York,  1939.  230  pages. 
$2.00.) 

SANELY  enough,  the  author  points  out  that 
one  danger  to  the  home  "results  from 
over-sentimentalization  and  a  reluctance  to 
face  a  realistic  picture  of  its  illogical  and 
curious  nature."  The  author  also  states 
that,  although  other  agencies  may  be  largely 
responsible  for  teaching  our  children,  the 
home  is  the  laboratory  where  the  lessons  are 
tested. 

Although  the  entire  book  is  exceptionally 
sensible  in  its  approach  to  the  home  situa- 
tion, the  chapter  on  "Rules  and  Reasons" 
is  a  gem.  Get  the  book — and  find  that 
home-making  can  be  fun. — M.  C.  ]. 

(Concluded  on  page  293) 


BUILDING  PERSONALITY 

THROUGH  SPEECH 

TRAINING 


A 


CONDUCTED  BY  MARBA  C  JOSEPHSON 

one  tiny  finger  in  the  place  where  the  She  felt  very  well  pleased  with  herself, 
pictures  and  notes  were,  and  marched  She  had  made  a  joke  and  caused  a 
proudly  to  the  side  of  Teacher's  desk.  laugh.  But  how  about  little  Emily? 
She  skillfully  opened  her  geography  Only  those  who  have  a  vivid  memory 
without  dropping   a  single   thing  and      of  the  times  when  they  were  in  her  place 


By  Dr.  Deta  P.  Neeley 

warm,  happy  smile  lit  up  Emily's      brought  it  to  rest  on  the  great  desk 
plain  little  face  as  she  cleared  her      beside  her. 

"Aren't  you  being  a  bit  presumptu- 
ous?" asked  Teacher. 

Now  Emily  didn't  know  what  "pre- 
sumptuous" meant.  It  was  such  a  great 
big    word    that    surely   it    must    mean 


desk  in  preparation  for  geog- 
raphy. All  day  she  had  waited  for  this 
moment  and  now  that  the  time  had 
come,  she  was  breathless  with  excite- 
ment.    Since  the  first  day  of  school 


can  understand. 

By  the  time  Emily  was  asked  to  take 
over  the  class,  she  felt  so  insecure  and 
uncomfortable  that  she  did  very  badly. 
Her  eyes  were  centered  on  a  spot  on 
the  wall — anywhere  but  on  the  eyes  of 
her  classmates.     Her  breath  was  shal- 


she  had  tried  to  please  the  pretty  new      something    very    nice.      Undoubtedly      low  and  irregular,  her  voice  weak,  and 


teacher  but  all  her  efforts  had  only 
ended  in  failure;  now  at  last  she  had 
her  chance. 

Father  had  just  returned  from  Den- 
mark, where  he  had  filled  a  mission,  and 


Teacher  was  pleased  at  sight  of  the 
pictures  and  notes;  so  little  Emily  gave 
her  the  nicest  smile  she  had  and  said: 

"I'm  glad  you  think  so." 

That  was  what  Mother  always  said 


since  the  lesson  was  on  Denmark,  Emily  when  someone  gave  her  a  compliment. 
had  been  asked  to  take  her  classmates  But  was  it  a  compliment?  Quite  sud- 
on  an  imaginary  trip.     Inside  the  big      denly  she  realized  that  Teacher  looked 


geography  book  were  her  notes  and  the 
pictures  Father  had  given  her.  She  had 
memorized  all  the  words  on  the  cards 
and  knew  just  when  to  hold  up  each 
picture  and  when  to  sing  the  little  Dan- 
ish song  and  show  the  pretty  little 
Danish  doll,  dressed  in  peasant  costume. 
When  she  had  asked  Father  to  hear  her 
say  it  through,  he  had  looked  ever  so 
pleased. 

"Our  lesson  today  is  about  a  foreign 
land — "  began  Teacher. 

Emily  heard  no  more.  She  was  so 
beset  with  conflicting  emotions  that 
she  was  not  thinking  clearly  and  when 
the  little  girl  who  sat  behind  her  gave 
her  a  nudge,  she  quickly  gathered  up 
her  geography,  being  careful  to  keep 


angry, 
warmth 


Poor  little  Emily;  all  the 
and  happiness  had  gone  out 
of  her  and  in  their  place  were  only  em- 
barrassment and  confusion. 

"W-e-1-1!  First  I  ask  what  is  meant 
by  a  foreign  land  and  you  rush  to  the 
front  of  the  room  and  take  possession 
of  my  desk  and  then  when  I  ask  you 
if  you  don't  think  you're  being  a  bit 
presumptuous,  you  say  you're  glad  I 
think  so,"  said  Teacher,  believing  that 
she  had  proved  a  martyr  to  the  cause 
of  patience  when  she  refrained  from 
telling  just  how  she  felt. 

At  this,  the  other  children  laughed 
uproariously.  Teacher  had  meant  they 
should.  She  had  virtually  directed  them 
to  make  fun  of  their  little  classmate. 


BABIES  SURE  THRIVE  ON  IT 


ELSIE— 
Borden' b  glamour  row 


IT'S  SO  DIGESTIBLE 

-  EVAPORATED  MILK 

MADE  BY  BORDEN'S 


Why  not?  For  Gail  Borden 
had  the  health  needs  of  tiny 
children  in  mind  when  he 
invented  the  process  of  pre- 
serving milk  in  cans. 

So  it  is  today — thousands 
and  thousands  of  babies  are 
thriving  on  Borden's  —  St. 
Charles  brand.  It's  irradiated 
with  sunshine  Vitamin  D. 

For  infant  feeding,  for 
cooking — buy  Borden's ! 


Utah  Product 
IF  IT'S  BORDEN'S.  IT'S  GOT  TO  BE  GOOD 


her  enunciation  indistinct.  She  began 
to  halt  and  stammer.  Her  "ahs"  and 
"ands"  were  overworked.  The  odds 
were  all  against  her.  It  was  impossible 
under  the  circumstances  to  learn  to 
think  and  express  herself  courageously. 

Emily,  with  the  weight  of  failure  rest- 
ing heavily  upon  her  and  smarting 
from  the  "wisecracks"  of  Teacher  and 
the  laugh  of  classmates,  opened  the  door 
of  her  home  to  find  herself  in  the  midst 
of  Mother's  friends. 

"Why,  where  have  you  been?"  called 
Mother  when  Emily  would  have  hur- 
ried away  to  her  room. 

"Oh,  I  went  over  to  Aunt  Alice's.  I 
took  it  for  granite  you  wouldn't  care." 

For  some  reason  unknown  to  the 
little  girl,  Mother  and  her  friends 
roared  with  laughter. 

"Say  it  again  for  the  ladies,"  laughed 
Mother. 

Thinking  they  hadn't  heard  her, 
Emily  spoke  again  very  distinctly: 

"I  took  it  for  granite  you  wouldn't 
care." 

"Granted,  not  granite,"  laughed 
Mother.  "She  says  the  funniest  things." 
For  the  second  time  that  day  her  ex- 
pressions had  brought  ridicule  upon  her. 
It  was  more  than  she  could  bear  and  she 
fled  from  the  room  with  blinding  tears 
filling  her  eyes. 

Tt  is  hoped  that  this  limited  picture  of 
Emily  will  indicate  the  human  frail- 
ties of  the  teacher  and  the  mother  which 
caused  them  to  lose  sight  of  the  child 
as  a  personality  tied  by  heartstrings  of 
pains  and  pleasures,  hopes  and  fears, 
joys  and  sorrows.  It  is  her  emotional 
life  that  is  most  significant.  The  great- 
est joys  and  the  most  poignant  distress 
of  youth  arise  from  associations  with 
other  people.  Facing  every  child  are 
conflicts  with  her  parents  and  other 
adults  who  assume  responsibility  for 
her  conduct,  and  the  conflicts  she  must 
have  with  other  children.  How  mild 
and  few  these  conflicts  are  is  a  measure 
of  the  child's  mental  health,  personality, 
and  behavior — her  happiness,  likable- 
ness,  and  citizenship. 

Undoubtedly  the  teacher  and  mother 
had  not  set  out  to  do  Emily  harm;  per- 
haps they  meant  to  help  her.    But  what 
they  overlooked  was  that  the  child's 
{Continued  on  page  292) 

291 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


««m 


**»•>.*... 


■^ 


S,    /TM4K£S 
A  HIT  WITH 

MEN 


STRAWBERRY 

SHORTCAKE 


Make  it  this  easy  way! 

No  man  can  resist  a  serving  of  deli- 
cious strawberry  shortcake  with  a 
delicate  biscuit  crust  and  plenty  of 
juicy  crushed  strawberries.  This  "hit 
dessert"  is  no  trick  at  all  to  make  if 
you  use  Globe  "Al"  ready-mixed 
Biscuit  Flour  for  the  crust.  The  easy, 
quick  recipe  is  on  the  side  of  the 
package.  Insist  on  Globe  "Al"  for 
that  good  "home-made  taste". 


GLOBE  "Al 


// 


ISCUIT      FLOUR 


Listen  to  "Mary  Foster,  The  Editor's  Daughter"  every  Monday  through  Friday. 
KNX  8  A.  M.;  KSFO  3:00  P.  M. 


SPAGHETTI 


Time-saving  casserole  meals  are  extra  tasty 
when  you  use  Globe  "Al"  Spaghetti  or 
Macaroni.  Extra  nutritious,  too,  because 
Globe  "Al"  Spaghetti  and  Macaroni  are 
100%  Semolina,  made  from  rich  Durum 
wheat! 

(YOU'LL    BE    GLAD    YOU    BOUGHT    GLOBE    "Al") 


Homing 


292 


{Continued  from  page  291 ) 

social  fears  and  anxieties  impair  her 
learning  process.  How  well  she  can 
speak,  how  well  she  can  concentrate, 
how  well  she  can  study  depend  largely 
on  the  emotional  comfort  she  enjoys.' 

But  we  all  need  to  ask  ourselves 
frankly  to  what  degree  we  prove  un- 
wittingly to  be  stumbling  blocks  to  the 
most  effective  learning,  and  to  what  ex- 
tent we  help  unconsciously  to  destroy 
wholesome  mental  health  and  person- 
ality in  the  child  even  though  our  very 
ardent  purpose  is  to  build  them  up. 

The  hickory  stick  has  almost  gone 
from  the  classroom  and  home  but  a 
more  dangerous  weapon  lingers  still — 
the  teachers'  and  parents'  venomous 
tongues.  Sarcasm  is  cruel,  and  there 
is  no  healing  power  in  it.  While  it  may 
serve  as  a  safety  valve  for  the  person 
using  it,  belittling  children  has  very 
little  influence  toward  building  them  up. 
Confidence  is  the  true  healing  lotion. 

However,  we  should  not  be  too  hard 
on  Emily's  teacher  or  mother.  Where 
is  the  teacher  or  parent  who  has  not 
smiled  or  laughed  aloud  at  the  questions 
or  remarks  of  an  innocent  child  who 
had  not  meant  to  be  funny  at  all?  The 
tendency  to  laugh  at  children  and  to 
make  fun  of  their  unconventional 
speech  is  a  universal  practice  behind 
which  is  the  powerful  and  insidious, 
unconscious  urge  to  seek  superiority. 
But  children  are  not  the  only  victims. 
We  are  prone  to  laugh  at  others  of  our 
own  age.  Let  us  recognize  this  human 
frailty  and  set  about  to  sin  less  fre- 
quently. At  first  we  cannot  expect  too 
much  of  ourselves.  But  if  we  earnestly 
try  we  can  all  improve.  Our  success 
will  depend  on  how  well  we  can  put 
ourselves  in  the  child's  place,  see  a  little 
as  he  sees,  understand  a  little  as  he  un- 
derstands, and  feel  a  little  as  he  feels. 

As  we  gain  self-control  and  improve 
in  these  respects,  we  are  going  to  be 
able  to  help  children  acquire  more  poise, 
feel  more  at  ease  when  they  attempt 
to  think  and  speak,  and  therefore,  to 
think  more  clearly  and  to  speak  more 
comfortably  and  effectively.  Further- 
more, we  shall  then  prove  to  every 
child  that  we  have  a  very  high  regard 
for  the  sacredness  of  his  personality. 

Since  all  education  begins  at  the 
cradle  and  since  there  is  nothing  beau- 
tiful in  life  that  has  an  abrupt  begin- 
ning— so  the  ability  to  speak  and  ex- 
press oneself  is  a  never-ending  process 
which  should  be  cultivated  throughout 
the  educational  system.  From  the  time 
the  child  first  begins  to  learn  the  names 
of  the  simple  things  about  him,  he  can 
be  taught  apt  expression  of  his  feelings 
and  thoughts;  just  as  we  prefer  to  buy 
clothes  that  fit  exactly  rather  than  ones 
that  will  do — so  we  should  encourage 
the  child  to  find  the  word  that  expresses 
his  thought  exactly. 

Even  though  every  child  cannot  reach 
the  highest  goal,  he  should  develop 
some  power  and  learning  to  radiate 
whatever  warmth  of  personality  he  has. 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,    1940 


Homing 


In  the  final  analysis  a  ready  vocabulary 
must  be  augmented  by  a  true  warmth 
of  understanding,  and  a  tolerance  for 
the  ideas  of  others  and  a  sincere  search- 
ing for  truth.  For  "though  I  speak  with 
the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,  and 
have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sound- 
ing brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal." 

THE  COOK'S  CORNER 

By  Barbara  Badger  Burnett 

Minced  Clam  Omelet  With  Asparagus 

4  Milk  White  eggs 

1  can  Pioneer  Minced  Sea  Clams 

2  tablespoons  Clover  Leaf  butter 
34  tablespoon  salt 

y§  teaspoon  pepper 
2  tablespoons  Borden's  St.  Charles  Evap- 
orated Milk 

Beat  egg  yolk  until  thick  and  light.  Add 
seasonings,  milk,  and  clams  drained  from 
liquid.  Fold  in  the  egg  whites  beaten  stiff. 
Melt  the  butter  in  a  frying  pan,  pour  in 
mixture,  and  cook  slowly  until  browned 
on  under  side.  Brown  top  under  broiler 
flame.  Cover  one-half  of  the  omelet  with 
cooked  asparagus  and  fold.  Garnish  with 
strips  of  bacon. 

Wheat  Pancakes,  Club  Style 

2  cups  Globe  "Al"  Pancake  Flour 
1   cup  of  cooked  Albers'  Carnation  Wheat 
\x/2  cups  Cloverleaf  milk 
1  Milk  White  egg,  beaten 
1   can  White  Star  Tuna 

Pimento  cheese  spread 

Minced  bacon 

Tomatoes 

Ripe  olives 

Nalley's  mayonnaise 

Beat  the  egg,  add  milk  and  cooked  wheat. 
Slowly  add  the  pancake  flour,  mixing  to  a 
smooth  batter.  Cook  in  seven-inch  pan- 
cakes. Spread  one  cake  with  a  thick  layer 
of  tuna,  blended  with  mayonnaise.  Cover 
with  second  pancake  and  spread  with 
pimento  cheese.  Add  another  pancake  and 
sprinkle  with  minced  bacon  and  cover  with 
tomato  slices.  Cover  with  fourth  pancake 
and  garnish  with  lettuce  and  ripe  olives. 

French  Toast 

12  slices  Royal  bread 
2   Milk  White  eggs 

1  tablespoon  Karo 

J4  cup    Borden's    St.    Charles    Evaporated 

Milk 
3^8  teaspoon  salt 

Mazola 

Beat  the  eggs,  add  the  milk,  Karo,  and 
salt.  Dip  the  bread  in  this,  one  slice  at 
a  time.  Drain  and  fry  in  sufficient  Mazola 
to  keep  from  sticking.  Serve  with  broiled 
bacon  and  Karo. 

Molded  Pear  Salad 

2  packages  Royal  Lime  Gelatin 
2  cups  boiling  water 

2  cups  cold  water 
12  pear  halves 
1   carton  Cloverleaf  cottage  cheese 
Nalley's  Salad  Time  Dressing 
cherries 
lettuce 

Add  the  boiling  water  to  the  gelatin  and 
stir  until  dissolved.  Add  the  cold  water  and 
pour  half  of  mixture  in  a  flat  pan.  Chill 
until  set.  Arrange  pear  halves  on  this 
gelatin,  fill  centers  with  cottage  cheese,  and 
garnish   each  with   a  cherry.     Cover  with 


the  rest  of  gelatin  mixture  and  chill.  Cut 
in  squares  around  each  pear  half,  serve  on 
lettuce,  and  garnish  with  dressing. 

Old-fashioned  Strawberry   Shortcake 

2  cups  Globe  "Al"  Biscuit  Flour 
34  cup  Utah  Beet  Sugar 
Sprinkle  of  nutmeg 

1  Milk  White  egg 

2  tablespoons  Cloverleaf  butter 
Cloverleaf  milk  to  make  a  soft  dough 
Cloverleaf  whipping  cream 
strawberries 

Add  the  sugar  and  nutmeg  to  the  biscuit 
flour.  Combine  the  egg  (beaten),  milk,  and 
melted  butter.  Add  to  the  flour,  knead 
slightly.  Roll  half  of  the  dough  to  fit  a 
round  cake  tin.  Put  in  tin  and  brush  with 
melted  butter.  Roll  rest  of  dough  and  place 
on  top.  Bake  at  425  degrees.  Split  and 
fill  with  strawberries.  Top  with  whipped 
cream. 


The  "Penny  Black" 

( Concluded  from  page  276) 

stamps  now  so  much  prized  by  col- 
lectors. 

We  may  not  rightly  close  our  com- 
ment on  the  "Penny  Black"  without 
a  cheer  for  modest  yet  persistent 
Rowland  Hill,  the  English  school- 
master. Later  he  became  Sir  Row- 
land Hill  as  the  merited  recognition 
and  rewrard  of  a  grateful  country. 
Sir  Rowland  truly  is  the  father  of 
penny  postage  and  the  inventor  of 
that  first  famous  adhesive  postage 
stamp  which  so  effectively  pictured 
and  popularized  penny  postage  to 
English  people  and  which  stirred  the 
nations  of  the  world  to  follow  their 

example. 

■  »  ■ 

On  the  Book  Rack 

(Concluded  from  page  290) 

PARTIES  AND  PROGRAMS  FOR 

PARENTS'    DAYS 
(Julia  Anne  Rogers,   1939,   National 
Recreation  Association,  New  York. 
160  pages.     75c.) 

Invaluable  to  Mutual  workers  who  are 
planning  innumerable  Father-and-Son 
outings  or  Mother-and-Daughter  banquets 
and  stimulating  to  those  who  would  like 
to  arrange  special  programs  for  Mother's 
and  Father's  days,  this  publication  of  the 
National  Recreation  Association  should  find 
ready  acceptance  among  Latter-day  Saints. 
Included  in  the  book  are  patterns  for 
things  which  can  be  made  for  mother. 
Games,  readings,  poems,  songs,  recipes, 
decorations  are  included  for  all  kinds  of 
parties.  And  the  book  includes  something 
that  most  of  our  Mutuals  have  not  so  far 
planned — daughter-and-dad  outings. 

GARDENING 

(National     Recreation    Association,    New 

York  City.    1940.    59  pages.    Fifty  cents.) 

THIS  brochure  deals  with  gardening  by 
the  school,  the  community,  and  the 
home,  and  should  be  conducive  of  arousing 
interest  in  the  raising  of  better  gardens. 
With  the  Church  interest  in  the  Beautifi- 
cation  program,  all  who  deal  with  young 
people  in  any  of  our  auxiliaries  and  the 
Priesthood  quorums  would  do  well  to  use 
this  helpful  guide. — M.  C.  /• 


""SS^sa 


^S0 


9 

cu&CGveked 

ft  SALADS    : 
|  NEEBED—^ 


THE 


P&tfvct 


DRESSING 


.  .  .  and  you'll  make  the  same 
discovery.  You'll  find  that 
salads  without  TANG  are 
often  flat — so  mild  they're 
inclined  to  be  tasteless.  With 
TANG,  vegetables  take  on 
new  flavor  .  .  .  gain  that 
something  which  the  name 
TANG  implies.  TANG  is  a 
dressing  designed  to  give 
foods  the  tang  they  naturally 
lack.  Don't  serve  salads 
without  it.  Buy  the  econom- 
ical quart  size.  At  grocers 
everywhere. 

•  Add  tangy  flavor  with  TANG  to 
sandwiches,  salads,  cold  meats,  sea 
foods,  sliced  tomatoes,  fresh  or 
canned  asparagus,  cheese  dishes. 
Exceptionally  good  on  potato  salad. 

Made  by   NALLEY'S,  Inc. 

Manufacturers  of  Quality  Foods 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


Fledglings 


(Continued  from  page  275) 
I'm  getting  started  .  .  .  getting  in 
with  people  who  can  help  me,  I'm  not 
going  to  spoil  it  all  by  tying  myself 
down.  Live  in  a  little  walk-up  flat? 
No  sir,  not  even  for  Carla."  He 
paused  and  then  said  easily,  "She'll 
wait  for  me.  She  loves  me.  I'm 
going  to  enjoy  my  youth  while  I 
have  it." 

He  went  out  then,  and  Lucy  turned 
bewildered  eyes  to  Dan.  He  smiled 
at  her — a  smile  that  held  no  mirth. 
"They  say  they  are  old  enough  to 
live  their  lives  their  own  way,  and 
then  they  say  they  are  too  young 
for  life's  responsibilities.  Oh,  Lucy, 
what  have  we  done  to  them?" 

Lucy  forced  back  the  tears.  "If 
we  had  more  money,  Dan.  We 
could  help  them.  They  could  get 
married.  .  .  ." 

He  turned  abruptly  away.  Susan- 
nah jumped  up  from  her  chair.  "I 
can't  stand  it,"  she  cried;  "I  came 
home  to  get  away  from  quarrels. 
What's  happened  to  all  of  you?" 

.Lucy  could  not  sleep.  She 
lay  stiff  and  wide-eyed  on  the  far 
side  of  the  bed,  staring  into  dark- 
ness. Dan,  she  knew,  was  awake. 
But  between  them  in  the  last  hours 
had  grown  a  barrier.  She  longed 
for  his  arms,  gentle  and  comforting 
around  her,  but  she  made  no  move. 
Tonight  he  was  a  stranger. 

From  downstairs  came  the  sound 
of  voices  and  laughter.  The  chil- 
dren and  their  friends,  a  welcome 
home  party  for  Susannah.  The  radio 
spilled  its  music  on  the  night.     She 


heard  the  refrigerator  door  slam,  and 
smiled.  There  was  food  enough. 
She  had  seen  to  that.  Dan  might 
grow  impatient  with  their  young  and 
foolish  ways — not  she! 

"Mother,"  whispered  Susannah 
from  the  doorway.  Lucy  started  up. 
"He  will  come,  won't  he?  Ted,  I 
mean.  I — I — couldn't  bear  it  if  I 
thought  he  wouldn't  come." 

"He  loves  you,  darling,"  said 
Lucy;  "he  couldn't  stay  away." 

The  ringing  of  the  alarm  clock 
dragged  Lucy  from  sleep.  She  shut 
it  off  and  rose.  Dan  still  slept,  his 
head  pillowed  on  his  arm.  She 
touched  his  shoulder  and  found  it 
tense.  She  sighed,  noting  the  new 
lines  around  his  eyes;  his  work  was 
much  too  strenuous,  for  one  of  Dan's 
years. 

She  felt  better  after  her  shower. 
On  the  threshold  of  the  living  room 
she  stopped,  staring  about  her  in  dis- 
may. The  room  was  a  shambles. 
Cushions  were  flung  here  and  there 
upon  the  floor,  half-eaten  sand- 
wiches curled  dry  and  distasteful- 
looking  on  scattered  plates.  Half- 
finished  cups  of  chocolate  stood  on 
tables  and  on  the  piano. 

There  was  a  thud  from  upstairs 
and  the  sound  of  heavy  footsteps. 
Quickly  she  gathered  up  the  dishes. 
She  couldn't  let  Dan  see  this.  She 
was  used  to-  forgotten  dishes,  but  the 
white  rings  that  the  cups  left  on  her 
tables  made  her  feel  a  little  sick. 

She  threw  a  scarf  over  them  when 
Dan  came  in.  He  looked  about  him, 
disgust  on  his  strong,  blunt  features, 
then  took  the  dishes  from  her  and 
carried  them  into  the  kitchen. 


EAT    MILK  WHITE''  EGGS 
for  Vitamins— for  Minerals 

"Milk  White"  Eggs  are  a  treasure-source  of  vitamins 
and  minerals  and  protein  .  .  .  they're  good,  and  good 
for  you,  too!  "Milk  White"  Eggs  have  a  national  repu- 
tation as  best  eggs.  They  cost  no  more.  Next  time  you 
shop  ask  for  "Milk  White"  Eggs! 

"Milk  White"  Eggs  are  used  exclusively  at  all  M.  I.  A.  Cooking  Schools. 


EAT  MORE  EGGS  T/u  p^edfeod 

MILK  WHITE  EGGS 


It  was  eleven  before  the  work  was 
done.  Upstairs  Susannah  still  slept. 
Lucy  set  a  place  for  her  on  a  corner 
of  the  dining  table,  and  taking  her 
mending  went  out  to>  the  coolness  of 
the  front  porch.  It  was  pleasant 
there,  and  very  quiet.  A  small  breeze 
carried  the  smell  of  climbing  roses. 
She  felt  herself  relax.  She  did  not 
see  Carla  coming  up  the  walk. 

"Mrs.  Cleeves,"  said  Carla. 

Lucy's  eyes  flew  open.  She  had 
never  heard  Carla's  voice  like  that, 
low  and  tight  as  an  elastic  band 
about  to  break.  "Carla!  I'm  glad 
to  see  you,  dear."  She  patted  the 
chair  beside  her. 

Carla  sat  instead  on  the  porch 
step.  Lucy,  looking  at  her,  thought 
she  had  never  seen  anyone  so  lovely. 
The  girl's  eyes  were  a  deep  shade 
of  blue,  startling  against  the,  black- 
ness of  her  hair.  She  looked  very 
young,  until  Lucy  saw  her  mouth, 
pinched  and  thin,  its  soft  curves 
gone. 

Carla  said,  "I've  come  to  say 
goodbye." 

"Goodbye?  But  why?  And  Dale?" 

Carla  bent  and  picked  a  dande- 
lion from  its  nest  in  the  grass. 
"Dale,"  she  said  at  last,  "has  a  new 
car,  a  beautiful  car,  all  blue  and 
shiny,  with  a  hundred  gadgets,"  she 
smiled  crookedly,  "a  very  beautiful 
car,  I  assure  you,  Mrs.  Cleeves.  It 
should  be.    All  my  dreams  are  in  it." 

So  she  had  seen  it  then,  before 
Dale  had  had  a  chance  to  explain. 
Lucy's  heart  contracted  with  pity  for 
her.  It  must  have  been  a  terrible 
shock.  "I'm  sorry,"  Lucy  said.  "But 
Dale  felt  that  he  had  to  have  it. 
Lawyers,  my  child,  almost  have  to 
have  a — a  front." 

Carla  sat  up  very  straight.  "I'm 
not  a  child,  Mrs.  Cleeves.  I'm  a 
woman.  A  woman  who  has  loved 
your  son  for  five  years,  and  who  has 
had  that  love  flung  in  her  face  for  all 
the  town  to  see.  They — they  were 
even  hinting  about  wedding  pres- 
ents. But  Dale  bought  a  car  instead." 

Lucy  said,  "I'm  sorry,"  and  fum- 
bled with  the  socks  in  her  mending 
basket.  "But  Carla,  it  will  come  out 
all  right  .  .  ."  The  girl  stopped  her 
with  a  wave  of  her  hand. 

"You  didn't  want  us  to  get  mar- 
ried five  years  ago.  You  wouldn't 
let  us  work  it  out.  We  would  have 
won  through  then.  Oh,  why  didn't 
you  leave  us  alone?" 

"I  wanted  you  to  be  happy,"  said 
Lucy.  She  went  to  Carla  and  tried 
to  take  her  in  her  arms.  Carla  shrug- 
ged away.  "I  did  think  of  you,  too, 
Carla.  Believe  me.  I  didn't  want 
you  to  go  through  the  things  I  did: 


294 


Fledglings 


poverty,  hard  work,  worry  ...  I 
wanted  love  to  be  a  beautiful  thing 
for  both  of  you." 

Carla  laughed.  The  sound  of  it 
was  dreadful  on  Lucy's  ears.  "You 
didn't  want  us  to  have  a  love  like 
yours?  A  love  that  fought  through 
poverty  and  illness  and  childbear- 
ing?  A  love  that  had  the  right  to  be 
open  and  free  and  wonderful?  A 
love  like  that  wasn't  good  enough! 
Don't  you  know  that  love  is  some- 
thing that  has  to  be  worked  for? 
But,  no.  Your  children  must  never 
work  for  anything.  Everything  must 
be  given  them.  No  matter  the  heart- 
break, no  matter  the  cost  to  others!" 
She  paused,  her  face  was  very  white. 
"You've  kept  your  children  from 
struggle,  Mrs.  Cleeves,  and  you've 
kept  them  from  becoming  men  and 
women." 

She  stood  up  then,  and  thrust  a 
tiny  circlet  into  Lucy's  palm.  "You 
give  it  to  him,  please.  I  won't  see 
him  again,  ever."  She  went  up  the 
path  very  slowly.  Once  she  stum- 
bled. 

J-/UCY  tried  to  stand,  to  run 
after  her  and  found  herself  unable 
to  move.  She  looked  at  the  ring  in 
her  hand  and  closed  her  fingers  over 
it.  She  could  not  bear  its  sparkle. 
So'  Dan  had  known  the  course  their 
love  had  taken.  He  had  felt  the 
shame,  the  terrible  guilt  that  she  felt 
now.  A  car  drove  up  before  the 
house.  Joel  bounded  out  the  door. 
He  stopped  beside  Lucy.  "What's 
the  matter,  Mom?  Don't  you  feel 
well?" 

"I'm  all  right,"  she  managed  to 
say. 

"O.K.  Say,  will  you  coax  Dad  to 
give  me  that  racket?" 

She  did  not  answer  him,  and  for 
the  first  time  she  felt  no  pride  in  him. 
"What  have  I  done  to  them?"  she 
whispered,  and  stopped.  That  was 
what  Dan  had  said.  Dan,  who  she 
saw  now  with  a  blinding  clearness 
had  not  feared  Susannah's  approach- 
ing motherhood,  but  who  had  been 
torn  by  her  failure  as  a  wife!  Dan 
who  had  tried  to  awaken  Joel!  To 
show  him  a  man's  way  of  doing 
th 


mgs! 

"There  is  nothing  I  can  do  now," 
she  said  aloud.  '  Even  though  it 
hurts  them,  I  can't  take  my  protec- 
tion away."  She  stopped  short. 
'Take  my  protection  away,"  she  re- 
peated. She  shoved  the  words 
away.  "I  can't  do  it.  I  couldn't 
live  without  them." 

She  rose  slowly,  after  a  long  time. 
"There  is  no  other  way,"  she  said, 
and  went  into  the  house  to  dress. 

It  was  dusk  before  the  cab  slid  to 
(Continued  on  page  296) 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 

7%4  GENTLE  BLEACH^  4itmi 

r 


/'/£  SAl/ED  OVER  $/5 
A  YEAR  SINCE  / 
CHANGED  FROM 

HARSH  BLEACHES 

to  PUREX 


HARSH  bleaches  injure  linens. 


Are  you  letting  harsh  bleaches  weaken  the 
fibres  of  your  linens,  causing  them  to  fray 
out  when  they  should  still  be  giving  good 
service?  That  type  of  premature  "wear"  is 
terribly  costly — and  it's  unnecessary!  You 
can  avoid  it  simply  by  whitening  your  wash 
with  Purex  .  .  .  the  bleach  that's  specially 


PUREX,  made  by  the  exclusive 

Intrafil  Process,  is  gentle  .  .  . 

lets  linens  last! 

processed  to  be  gentle  to  linens.  This  ex- 
clusive Intrafil  Process  removes  impurities, 
leaves  Purex  with  full  bleaching  strength 
yet  gentle  even  to  delicate  fabrics.  All 
white  and  fast -colored  linens  and  cottons 
are  safe.  Just  follow  directions  . . .  Why  trust 
linens  to  any  bleach  but  Purex? 


4-  BEAUTY  BATH  ^Z  f<m 


Just  flood  Purex  onto  drainboard  full  strength,  and  spread 

with  a  wet  cloth.    Wipe  drainboards,  sink  and  stove  enamel 

with  same  cloth.   Rinse  with  plain  water.   Pour  a  little  Purex 

into  drain,  and  let  stand,  to  deodorize. 

t||^  Add  this  final  touch  to  your  regular  kitchen 

":Wi  clean-up  —  do  it  daily  for  just  one  week  — 

A  !».  and  see  how  much  sheerer  your  kitchen  is! 


i.jtflSCH-MKS 


PUREX 


THE 


lf&i$fe 


BLEACH 


AND  ALL-AROUND  CLEANSER 


Many  thousands  of  women 
have  already  learned  that 
Purex,  the  bleach  that's 
gentle  to  linens,  is  also  a 
perfectly  amazing  cleanser, 
deodorizer  and  disinfectant 
for  the  kitchen.  Used  daily 
the  easy  way  shown  here, 
Purex  solves  forever  that 
old  problem  of  keeping  a 
kitchen  "sweet."  And  how 
things  do  sparkle !  Try  it! 
Put  Purex  on  your  grocery 
list  today! 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


Fledglings 


( Continued  from  page  295 ) 
a    stop   beside   the   parking.      Lucy 
climbed  out  briskly  enough,  but  her 
fingers  trembled  counting  change  in- 
to the  driver's  hand. 

"You're  getting  company,"  said 
the  driver,  Lucy  turned.  Another 
cab  had  driven  up,  and  out  of  it 
stepped  Ted.  His  hat  was  on  the 
back  of  his  red  hair,  but  he  looked 
harried  and  tired.  He  smiled  at  her. 
"Hello,  Mom.  I  came."  The  smile 
died.  "You  knew  I  would,  didn't 
you?" 

"Wait,"  cried  Lucy  to  the  cab 
driver.      She  turned  to  Ted.     "Go 


ftEDDY  KILOWATT 

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DO  IT  NOW! 


See  Your  Range 
Dealer 


or 


Utah  Power  S3 
Light  Co* 


back  with  him,  drive  around  for 
awhile.  For  half  an  hour,  Ted.  It's 
terribly  important." 

He  grinned.  "O.  K.,  Lucy,  if  you 
say  so." 

She  watched  him  drive  away  and 
then  went  up  the  path.  They  were 
waiting  for  her  in  the  cool  dimness 
of  the  living  room,  impatience  in  their 
eyes. 

"I  was  sick,"  wailed  Susannah, 
"all  afternoon." 

Lucy  took  off  her  hat,  "I'm  sorry, 
Susannah,  but  that's  part  of  having 
a  baby.  Joel,  I'm  glad  you're  here; 
and  you,  too,  Dale." 

Dan  got  up  from  his  favorite  chair 
and  came  to  her.  "I  was  worried, 
my  dear.  It's  so  seldom  you're  not 
home." 

She  kissed  him.  "I'm  sorry,  Dan, 
but  renting  a  house  is  more  trouble 
than  I  thought  it  would  be." 

"Renting  a  house?"  demanded 
Dale.  "What  are  you  talking 
about?" 

Lucy  ignored  him.  Her  eyes  were 
on  Dan,  a  desperate  plea  for  under- 
standing in  their  blue  depths.  "Dan, 
do  you  remember  years  ago,  you 
promised  me  you'd  take  me  travel- 
ing? I  want  to  go  now.  Tomorrow. 
I've  rented  the  house  and  we  have 
some  savings,  and  our  insurance. 
Oh,  Dan,  say  you  will?" 

"Why,  Mother,"  Joel  broke  in, 
"you  must  be  out  of  your  mind. 
What  would  become  of  us?  Dad 
would  have  to  quit  his  job." 

Lucy  laughed.  "You'll  get  along 
wonderfully  well.  Didn't  Dad  say 
something  about  a  job  with  Pete 
Morris?"  She  looked  past  him  to 
Dan  and  saw  understanding  leap 
into  his  eyes. 

"  We  should  have  gone  a  long  time 
ago,  Lucy,"  he  said.  "But  tomorrow 
will  suit  me  fine." 

Joel  looked  from  one  to  another 
of  them.  "I  get  it,"  he  said  at  last; 
"the  birds  should  be  on  their  own 
wings.  Q.  K.  I'd  better  see  Pete 
Morris." 

Susannah  wept,  the  tears  splash- 
ing on  her  clasped  hands.  "How 
can  you  do  it?  Now  when  I  need 
you  the  most.  Oh  Ted — Ted — I'm 
going  back  to  him.  I  wish  I'd  never 
come  home."  Lucy  watched  her  go, 
beating  back  the  fierce  impulse  to 
follow. 

Now  only  Dale  was  left.  "You 
know  what  this  means  to  me,"  he 
said.  "I'll  have  to  give  up  my  new 
car.    I  might  even  lose  my  office." 

"No,"  said  Lucy,  "you'll  get  along 
all  right,  now  that  you've  begun. 
And  you'll  have  other  cars  even  more 
beautiful,  only  .  .  ."  she  reached 
out     her     hand     to     him,      Carla's 


ring       winking       in       her       palm. 

Dale  took  it,  his  dark  face  flushing. 
"She  doesn't  mean  it;  I'll  go  find  her. 
She'll  change  her  mind." 

Lucy  watched  him  go,  heaviness 
upon  her  heart,  for  Carla  had  meant 
what  she  said,  Lucy  knew;  and 
meaning  it,  had  taken  something  in- 
finitely beautiful  out  of  Dale's  life. 

So  they  were  alone  in  that  familiar 
room,  Lucy  and  Dan,  and  Dan  said, 
coming  to  take  her  in  his  arms,  "It 
was  a  brave  thing,  Lucy." 

The  doorbell  rang,  shrill  and 
piercing  through  the  house,  "It's 
Ted,"  she  said,  and  went  to  let  him 
in,  walking  quickly  with  her  head 
held  high. 


There's  a  refreshing  tang  of  the 
deep-sea  in  Three  Diamonds 
Crabmeat  that  gives  a  sparkling 
flavor-lift  to  spring  and  summer 
dishes.  Packed  fresh-at-sea,  these 
tender  juicy  leg  segments  of  the 
Giant  King  Crab  bring  their  nat- 
ural ocean  flavor  direct  to  you. 
Add  a  new  taste-thrill  to  your 
canapes,  cocktails,  salads  or  pre- 
pared hot  dishes  with  Three  Dia- 
monds Crabmeat. 

Insist  on  this  label  at 
your  grocer's  today  .  .  . 


THREE  DIAMONDS 

BRAND  FANCY 

CRABMEAT 


296 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


Val 


ues 


{Concluded  from  page  277) 
packing  house.    Then  we'll  be  close 
enough  to  take  care  of  everything 
here." 

Old  Curt  Rice  had  come  down 
into  the  yard.  He  shuffled  up  close 
with  his  felt  hat  corrugated  between 
his  fingers  . 

"Miz  Stratford,"  he  said,  "if 
you're  goin'  ter  move  over  to  the 
packin'  house,  I'd  be  right  glad  to 
haul  some  of  your  things  over  in  the 
wagon  fer  ye."  He  grinned  and 
wiped  his  mouth  with  the  back  of 
his  hand. 

Mrs.  Warner,  a  little  thin  woman 
with  a  skimpy  mouth  like  a  ripple  on 
a  pan  of  skim  milk,  said,  "I  want  you 
all  to  come  over  to  our  place  for  sup- 
per, Miz  Stratford." 

And  as  I  walked  along  the  road 
to  the  big  orchard,  I  swung  the 
broom  and  kicked  a  rock  ahead  of 
me.  Folks,  I  thought,  were  good, 
down  deep.  If  I  weren't  so  occupied 
with  posing  and  pretending,  I  would 
see  it  more  often.  And  Mother — I 
could  see  her  in  my  mind's  eye,  lift- 
ing her  head  and  straightening  her 
shoulders,  ready  to  begin  the  fight 
again.  Her  frequent  admonition 
rang  in  my  ears,  "It  isn't  what  you 
have,  but  what  you  are."  I  kicked 
at  another  rock  in  the  path,  but  this 
time  I  missed,  for  my  eyes  were 
blinded  with  tears  of  shame. 


B.  CECIL  GATES 
WRITES  USEFUL 
CANTATA 

T}  esurrection  Morning,  Easter  can- 
tata  by  B.  Cecil  Gates,  noted 
Church  composer,  made  its  first  ap- 
pearance this  spring  to  win  immediate 
and  wide  acceptance.  Nearly  seventy 
small  choral  groups,  most  of  them  ward 
choirs,  called  for  it  before  Easter 
Sunday.  In  one  instance,  a  number  of 
Salt  Lake  City  wards  combined  and 
presented  it  to  orchestra  accompani- 
ment, while  in  Mesa,  Arizona,  home  of 
Ida  R.  Alldredge,  who  wrote  the  words 
for  the  cantata,  it  was  broadcast  from 
the  Temple  annex. 

In  larger  setting,  selections  were  sung 
by  the  Singing  Mothers  of  the  Relief 
Society  at  the  organization's  recent  an- 
nual conference,  an  especially  happy 
incident  inasmuch  as  it  is  to  them  that 
the  work  has  been  dedicated.  Duets, 
trios,  and  special  choruses  of  women's 
voices,  moreover,  are  continuing  to  use 
several  of  the  cantata's  appealing 
themes  as  program  numbers. 

It    is     apparent     that    Resurrection 

Morning  is   filling  the   very  need  the 

composer  intended  it  should  when  its 

{Concluded  on  page  304) 


'llii'l   ' 
«**    ,4* 


mm  ^«f 


m  #  *  L 


GIVE   • SERVE 


UNUSUAL 
CHOCOLATES 


Milk  Chocolates,  Asssorted.  .Lb.  $1.25 

Gold  Remembrance  Assorted  Chocolates 
From  $2.00  up 


Chews  and  Nuts,  Assorted  .  .Lb.  $1.25 
French  Boquet  Chocolates,  Assorted 

Lb.  $1.00 


//  your  favorite  store  doesn't  have  these  candies 
Write  MISS  SAYLOR'S  CHOCOLATES,  ALAMEDA,  CALIFORNIA 


Drink  This  Milk  Every  Day 


<jaje(juai4d<\ 


for  the    best  of 
Vigorous  Health 

Grown-ups  as  well  as  growing-ups  need  the 
food  substances  that  are  so  completely  and  so 
inexpensively  supplied  by  good  milk.  You'll 
like  the  finer  flavor  of  Cloverleaf  Milk.  It's  all 
enriched  with  precious  sunshine  vitamin  D  for 
your  protection. 

It  costs  no  more  than  ordinary  milk 

ClvwrLurf 

Home  of  Fine  Dairy  Products    %/ 


MPDftlMT  VWVY5 


JUST  GOOD  BREAD 

No  "hooey" 

There's  no  "hooey"  in  Royal  adver-  mind    you    that    we    make     Royal 

tising.     We  don't  try  to  tell  folks  it  Bread    to    provide    taste-satisfying 

will   make   them  more  beautiful  or  and  body-building  food.     In  other 

glamorous.     All  we  try  to  do  is  re-  words,  food  that  you  enjoy  eating. 


FRESH 

every  day  at  your  grocer's 


mm 


FI  N  E 


USB 


ROYAL  BAKING  CO.,  Salt  Lake  &   Ogden— 100%  Home-owned 


297 


CONDUCTED   BY  THE  MELCHIZEDEK   PRIESTHOOD    COMMITTEE  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OF  THE  TWELVE — ■ 
JOSEPH  FIELDING  SMITH,   CHAIRMAN;  JOHN  A.  WIDTSOE,  JOSEPH  F.  MERRILL,  AND  SYLVESTER  Q.  CANNON 


THE  GENERAL  PRIESTHOOD 
CONFERENCE 

T)erhaps  the  largest  General  Priest- 
hood Conference  of  record,  was 
held  in  the  Tabernacle  at  7  p.  m.  on  the 
evening  of  April  6,  1940,  as  part  of  the 
General  Conference  proceedings.  The 
spirit  and  instruction  were  notable.  Dr. 
Joseph  F.  Merrill  summarized  and  re- 
emphasized  the  Anti-Liquor-Tobacco 
Campaign  activities. 

Dr.  John  A.  Widtsoe  discussed  the 
operation  of  the  four  standing  quorum 
committees,  with  particular  reference 
to  the  Welfare  Committee  and  the 
monthly  meeting. 

Bishop  LeGrand  Richards  dealt 
briefly  with  old  and  new  phases  of  the 
Aaronic  Priesthood  quorums. 

President  J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr.,  dis- 
cussed tithing  as  affecting  employees  in 
Church  institutions  and  as  affecting  the 
Church  generally.  The  representatives 
of  the  wards  and  stakes  who  were  in 
attendance  will  do  well  to  carry  these 
messages  into  their  stakes  and  give  them 
effect  in  the  local  units  of  the  Church. 
Past  written  instructions  in  the  Era  and 
elsewhere  should  be  referred  to  for  in- 
formation on  all  doubtful  points. 


ANTI-LIQUOR-TOBACCO 
COLUMN 


GOOD  NEWS 

"\Jews  of  the  appointment  by  State 
■  '  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, Charles  H.  Skidmore,  of  Professor 
Reuben  D.  Law  to  be  director  of  char- 
acter and  narcotic  education  in  Utah 
was  very  gratifying.  This  was  done  in 
an  effort  to  give  full  effect  to  two  laws 
made  at  the  1939  session  of  the  Utah 
legislature.  These  require  instruction 
and  training  in  the  public  schools  con- 
cerning fundamentals  of  character  and 
the  harmful  effects  of  narcotics. 

The  laws  indicate  that  the  work  of 
the  school  in  these  subjects,  to  be  ef- 
fective, must  be  supported  by  the  home, 
civic  and  religious  bodies,  etc.  Hence 
forms  of  cooperation  must  be  worked 
out  to  secure  unity  and  the  best  results. 

We  wish  the  greatest  success  to  the 
Superintendent,  his  new  director,  and  all 
others  who  may  have  opportunity  to 
aid  in  this  most  important  work.  Utah 
will  be  watched  for  results  by  interested 
observers  in  the  nation,  both  far  away 
and  near  by.  Success  by  the  schools 
will  be  a  tremendous  help  to  our  cam- 
paign for  abstinence.  We  urge  all  our 
workers  and  sympathizers  to  give  the 
fullest  feasible  cooperation  to  the 
schools  in  their  efforts  to  carry  out  the 
mandates  of  these  new  laws. 

298 


An  acceptable  religious  life  must  be 
rooted  in  good  moral  character.  Utah 
schools,  responsive  to  the  mandate  of 
the  law,  will  aim  to  train  their  boys  and 
girls  in  good  moral  character.  For 
best  results,  obviously  cooperation  with 
agencies,  e.  g.,  the  home,  outside  the 
school  will  be  necessary.  This  is  why 
we  urge  all  our  workers  and  people 
generally  to  cooperate  with  the  school 
in  every  way  it  may  indicate. 

SHALL  THESE  LAWS 
BE  ENFORCED? 

7V  RE  American  youth  being  trained  in 
"^  law-breaking?  A  foolish  question, 
do  you  ask?  Before  finally  deciding 
on  your  answer  please  read  carefully 
the  following  excerpts  taken  from  the 
statutes  of  the  State  of  Utah: 

Any  person  who  furnishes  to  any  minor 
by  gift,  sale,  or  otherwise  any  cigarette  or 
cigarette  paper  or  wrapper,  or  any  paper 
made  or  prepared  for  the  purpose  of  making 
cigarettes,  or  any  tobacco  of  any  kind 
whatsoever,  is  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and 
shall  be  punished  by  a  fine  of  not  less  than 
$25.00  or  more  than  $200  or  by  imprison- 
ment in  the  county  jail  not  exceeding  six 
months,  or  by  both  such  fine  and  imprison- 
ment.    (Title  93,  Chapter  1,  Article  12.) 

...  It  is  also  a  misdemeanor  .  .  .  for 
the  proprietor  of  any  place  of  business  to 
knowingly  permit  minors  to  frequent  such 
place  of  business  while  they  are  using  to- 
bacco. The  term  place  of  business  as  here 
used  shall  apply  to  any  and  all  such  places 
as  shops,  stores,  factories,  public  garages, 
offices,  theatres,  recreation  and  dance  halls, 
pool  rooms,  cafes,  cafeterias,  cabarets, 
restaurants,  passenger  coaches,  and  waiting 
rooms.      (Title  93,   Chapter  3,  Article   1.) 

Many  other  states  have  similar  pro- 
visions in  their  laws. 

These  laws  were  made  to  be  ob- 
served. But  what  law  is  observed  un- 
less efforts  are  made  to  enforce  it? 
Will  non-observance  inspire  respect  for 
a  law?  Will  violation  with  impunity 
train  or  tend  to  train  in  violation? 

At  a  state  meeting  the  Municipal 
League  of  Utah  resolved  several  months 
ago  that  these  anti-narcotic  laws  should 
be  enforced.  Some  months  later  the 
Utah  County  Officers'  Association 
passed  a  similar  resolution. 

So  we  call  this  matter  to  the  atten- 
tion of  every  one  of  our  stake  com- 
mittees and  recommend  that  every  one 
of  them  in  Utah  and  those  in  states 
that  have  similar  laws  take  appropriate 
steps  looking  to  their  enforcement.  No 
law  enforces  itself.  Enforcement  of- 
ficers will  not  act  in  the  enforcement  of 
such  laws  as  the  above  unless  they  are 
encouraged  to  do  so. 

We  think  our  committees  should  act 
in  the  matter.  We  suggest  they  con- 
sider the  problem,  present  recommenda- 


tions favoring  enforcement  to  one  or 
more  stake  meetings,  then  appoint  com- 
mittees to  contact  enforcement  officers, 
etc.  To  get  results  these  committees 
should  be  more  or  less  permanent  and 
keep  in  continual  contact  with  the  of- 
ficers. And  to  be  influential  these  com- 
mittees should  have  the  backing  of  pub- 
lic sentiment,  expressed  at  stake  or  com- 
munity meetings. 

Will  stake  committees  kindly  give 
immediate  attention  to  this  matter?  In 
Utah  the  situation  seems  to  be  favorable 
for  action— the  law,  public  schools,  en- 
forcement officers,  etc.,  all  being  in 
agreement.    Now  let  there  be  action. 

ANOTHER  ITEM  FROM 
DR.  OAKES 

Tobacco  Prevents  Recovery 
From  Blood  Vessel  Disease 

Thromboangiitis  Obliterans,  besides 
rating  as  a  high  sounding  term,  is  the 
name  given  to  a  most  distressing  disease 
in  which  the  arteries,  especially  of  foot 
and  lower  leg,  become  gradually  obliter- 
ated causing  severe  pain  and  eventually 
gangrene  or  death  of  the  limb.  This  dis- 
ease comes  on  in  middle  age  or  later,  but 
the  causes  which  bring  it  begin  their 
stealthy  and  destructive  work  earlier  in 
life.  Tobacco  appears  to  be  one  of  those 
causes,  and  the  following  quotation  deal- 
ing with  treatment  of  the  disease  is  sig- 
nificant. 

"Tobacco — -Those  patients  who  contin- 
ued to  smoke  or  chew  tobacco  against  ad- 
vice failed  to  improve.  While  the  discon- 
tinuance of  tobacco,  without  other  meas- 
ures was  sufficient  to  bring  about  lasting 
improvement  in  symptoms,  we  have  found 
no  lasting  improvement  in  either  disease 
without  it. 

"It  was  not  sufficient  simply  to  tell  the 
patient  not  to  smoke  or  chew  tobacco.  Most 
of  the  patients  had  used  it  excessively  for 
years.  Many  had  been  advised  by  physi- 
cians previously  to  stop  its  use,  but  only 
two  had  done  so.  It  was  necessary  to  warn 
them  clearly  and  repeatedly  that  unless 
they  gave  up  tobacco  completely  and  for 
good  they  could  not  improve  and  might 
even  lose  their  limbs."  (Bernheim,  Alice 
R.,  and  London,  Isabel  M.,  [New  York] 
"Arteriosclerosis  and  Thromboangiitis  Ob- 
literans"— Journal  American  Medical  As- 
sociation, June  19,  1937,  Vol.  108,  No.  25, 
page  2103.) 


QUORUM  PROJECTS 


THIRD  QUORUM  OF  SEVENTY 
REPORTS  ACTIVITY 

P\uring   the  year    1939,   the    Third 
Quorum    of    Seventy,    which    in- 
cludes   118   Seventies   residing   in   the 
14th,  17th,  and  Capitol  Hill  wards  of 
the  Salt  Lake  Stake,  maintained  a  full 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


term  missionary  in  the  California 
mission. 

Responding  to  the  call  of  the  First 
Council  of  Seventy  to  engage  in  a  quo- 
rum project,  the  members  unanimously 
passed  a  resolution  on  the  28th  of 
May  to  the  effect  that  each  Seventy 
would  voluntarily  contribute  one  day's 
salary  to  a  quorum  welfare  fund.  Thir- 
ty-four brethren  took  advantage  of  this 
opportunity.  The  quorum  also  assisted 
in  the  stake  project  of  making  1500 
wooden  boxes  for  the  regional  store- 
house. 

To  have  a  rounded-out  program, 
each  member  pledged  himself  to  visit 
the  House  of  the  Lord  once  a  month 
and  do  endowment  service  for  a  widow 
in  the  stake  who  was  unable  to  finance 
her  own  record.  The  annual  report 
showed  that  fifty  ordinances  were  per- 
formed. 

REPORT  MARKS  ALBERTA 
STAKE  PROGRESS 

Ceveral  outstanding  accomplishments 
*^  highlight  the  report  of  conditions 
in  the  Alberta  Stake  which  was  made 
at  a  recent  quarterly  stake  conference: 

Notable  is  the  achievement  of  the 
Aetna  Ward,  where  Bishop  Christian 
Jensen  reports  that  for  the  last  eight 
years  Ward  Teaching  has  been  done 
one  hundred  per  cent,  and  that  for 
the  last  six  years  there  have  been  no 
non-tithepay  er  s . 

The  stake  went  "over  the  top"  in 
the  .Era  campaign,  with  two  wards  ob- 
taining far  beyond  their  quota. 

More  work  was  done  in  the  Alberta 
Temple  during  the  month  of  February, 
1940,  than  during  any  other  preceding 
February  in  the  history  of  the  temple. 

Four  wards  in  the  stake  have  out- 
grown their  meetinghouses.  In  the 
interest  of  greater  activity,  it  has  been 
proposed  that  these  wards  be  divided 
but  that,  in  the  interest  of  economy,  no 
new  chapel  be  erected.  It  is  suggested 
that  new  wards  arrange  to  use  existing 
facilities. 

Welfare  activities  have  taken  a  va- 
riety of  forms:  The  Relief  Society 
requires  each  member  to  furnish  one 
turkey  or  its  equivalent,  while  Priest- 
hood quorums  have  projects  of  their 
own: 

In  the  spring  of  1939,  the  121st 
Quorum  of  Seventy,  comprised  of  119 
members,  began  a  hog  project,  each 
member  earmarking  a  weaner  pig  to 
be  fed  and  turned  over  to  the  quorum 
when  ready  for  marketing.  It  is  plan- 
ned to  extend  this  activity  to  the  main- 
tenance of  a  feed  lot  for  fattening 
winter  stock  (steers,  sheep,  hogs)  or 
to  the  seeding  of  a  piece  of  land  in  the 
interest  of  the  missionary  fund.  An 
annual  fee  of  five  dollars  is  asked  of 
each  member  in  addition.  At  present, 
the  quorum  is  assisting  one  missionary. 

An  unusual  undertaking  is  the  benefit 
fund  founded  by  the  High  Priests  of  the 
stake,  which  provides  that  members 
shall  pay  an  initial  sum  of  one  dollar 
upon  ordination  and  an  assessment  of 


H' 


fifty  cents  within  thirty  days  after  the 
death  of  a  quorum  member,  whose 
beneficiary  receives  a  benefit  of  sixty 
dollars.  The  fund  has  been  operating 
successfully  for  ten  years.  During  that 
time,  the  High  Priests  have  also  raised 
six  hundred  dollars  as  a  missionary 
fund  and  have  assisted  eight  of  their 
number  to  fill  short  term  missions. 

GRANGER  WARD  HIGH 
PRIESTS'  PROJECT 

[ere  is  an  interesting  story  from  the 
Granger    Ward,    a    High    Priest 
project.    They  report  as  follows: 

At  the  time  brother  Antone  Rentmeister, 
who  had  been  an  active  High  Priest,  died 
on  April  5,  1939,  it  was  decided  that  the 
High  Priests  of  the  ward  would  farm  his 
twenty  acres  for  his  widow.  The  ground 
was  planted  about  as  follows:  Alfalfa, 
seven  acres;  grain,  ten  acres;  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  land  had  more  or  less  been 
prepared  for  seeding. 

Brother  Charles  L.  Bawden  was  asked 
by  the  High  Priests'  work  director,  William 
H.  Bangerter,  to  plant  the  previously  con- 
tracted two  acres  of  beets,  and  the  rest  of 
the  ground  was  seeded  to  additional  grain. 

Brother  William  Hudson,  chairman  of 
the  High  Priest  committee  of  the  Granger 
Ward,  furnished  a  man  to  do  the  irrigating, 


which  was  carried  on  during  the  summer  and 
fall  at  eight-day  intervals,  day  or  night, 
whenever  the  turn  came,  and  this  has  been 
done  with  faithfulness. 

When  the  beets  were  ready  to  be  thinned 
(they  had  been  previously  cultivated),  a 
call  was  made  by  Bishop'  John  D.  Hill  for 
help,  and  eighty-eight  men  and  boys  re- 
sponded. The  beets  were  all  thinned  in  one 
evening.  Later  a  call  was  made  for  men 
and  boys  to  do  the  weeding;  a  good  number 
responded,  and  the  beets  were  weeded  and 
hoed.  The  second  time  the  beets  were 
weeded  the  Lesser  Priesthood  were  assigned 
this  work  under  the  direction  of  Brother 
Albert  Hoggan,  chairman  of  this  group  in 
the  ward,  as  a  Priesthood  activity. 

The  three  crops  of  hay  were  cut  and 
raked  and  hauled  by  the  High  Priests.  A 
buyer  was  found  for  the  first  two  crops  ar.d 
the  third  was  stacked  for  feed.  The  bridge 
over  the  irrigation  ditch  leading  into  the 
house  and  yard  from  the  main  road  collapsed 
as  a  heavy  load  of  hay  was  crossing,  mak- 
ing it  necessary  to  construct  a  new  bridge. 
The  High  Priests  built  it  of  reinforced  con- 
crete, with  material  which  they  donated  and 
had  hauled  there. 

The  grain  when  it  was  ready  for  harvest- 
ing was  cut  with  a  combine  owned  and 
operated  by  a  member  of  the  High  Priests' 
quorum,  and  the  grain  was  later  moved  in- 
to the  granary  by  the  members  of  the  quo- 
rum. 


Melchizedek  Priesthood  Outline  of  Study,  June,  1940 

Text:    Priesthood  and  Church  Government. 
(See  supplementary  readings,  problems,  and  projects  below.) 


PRICE  OF  PRIESTHOOD  TEXT 
MISUNDERSTOOD 

To  correct  what  appears  to  be  a 
misunderstanding  on  the  part  of 
some  concerning  the  price  of  the  cur- 
rent Melchizedek  Priesthood  text, 
Priesthood  and  Church  Government, 
the  following  information  is  re- 
peated: 

The  charge  price  for  quorums  and 
quorum  members  is  $1.50  a  copy. 
If  cash  comes  with  the  order  the 
price  is  $1.35  a  copy,  which  is  the 
best  cash  price  that  can  be  made 
and  the  only  special  price.  No  other 
price  is  or  has  been  advertised. 


LESSON  XVI 

Divisions  of  the  Priesthood 
(Read  Chapter  9,  pp.  102-8) 

I.  One  Priesthood:  the  Holy  Priesthood 

a.  Its  purpose:  to  assist  men  in  life's 
endeavors 

b.  Its  scope:   embraces  all  offices  and 
authorities 

II.  Division  of  labor  in  Priesthood  work 

a.  Two  major  divisions 

1.  Melchizedek 

2.  Aaronic 

b.  Purpose  of  division 

1.  Orderly  procedure  to  carry  on 
varied  work 

2.  Definite  duties    to  meet  special 
human  needs 

c.  Character  of  division 

1.  Coherence,    rather   than  separa- 
tion, of  parts 


2.  Unity:  no  government  in  Church 
apart  from  Priesthood 

III.  One  Priesthood,  many  callings 

a.  Definition  of  office 

1.  Not  itself  part  of  Priesthood 

2.  A  service  or  duty  to  be  per- 
formed growing  out  of  Priest- 
hood 

b.  Jurisdiction  of  office 

1.  Not  greater  than  Priesthood  it- 
self 

2.  Derives  authority  from  Priest- 
hood 

3.  Decentralizes  power  of  Priest- 
hood 

(a)  All  offices  equally  essential 
in  particular  sphere 

(b)  All  officers  equally  acknowl- 
edged in  their  calling 

c.  Titles  arising  from  office 

IV.  Restoration  by  ordination  and  revela- 
tion 

a.  Of  Lesser  Priesthood 

b.  Of  Melchizedek  Priesthood 

Problems  and  projects: 

Note:  There  may  be  some  temptation 
at  this  point  to  raise  the  question  of  position 
and  character  of  the  Levitical  Priesthood. 
Such  discussion  should  be  postponed  until 
the  lesson  on  Aaronic  Priesthood. 

1.  Explain:  "All  Priesthood  is  Mel- 
chizedek." 

2.  In  what  ways  does  Priesthood  assist 
men  (a)  temporally  (b)  spiritually?  Show 
by  specific  instances  how  the  several  offices 
of  the  Priesthood  serve  special  human 
needs.     What  are  these  needs? 

3.  Distinguish  clearly  between  Priest- 
hood and  office. 

4.  Why  does  the  division  of  labor  as  it 
occurs     between      the     Melchizedek     and 

(Continued  on  page  300) 

299 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


Melchizedek  Priesthood 

(Continued  from  page  299) 
Aaronic  Priesthood  seem  a  logical  division 
to  you?    How  does  it  work  out  in  practice? 

LESSON  XVII 
The  Melchizedek  Priesthood: 
History  and  Authority 
(Read  Chapter  10,  pp.  108411) 

I.  Origin  of  name 

a.  Reverence   for  Deity:    use   of   His 
name  avoided 

b.  Greatness  of  Melchizedek:  his  name 
worthy  to  designate  Priesthood 

1.  King  of  Salem 

2.  Great     High     Priest:     "through 
lineage  of  his  fathers" 

3.  Dealings  with  Abraham 

II.  "After  the  order  of  Melchizedek"  (See 
Supplementary  Readings   1 ) 

a.  Priesthood  of  Christ 

b.  Erroneous     conception     of     Jews: 
Paul's  epistle 

III.  Distinguishing    features    (See   Supple- 
mentary Readings  2) 

a.  Authority  over  spiritual  ordinances 

b.  Right  of  presidency 

c.  Power  and  authority  over  all  offices 
of  Church 

IV.  Events  of  restoration 

a.  Recorded  evidences:   Doctrine  and 
Covenants  27:5-13;  128:20 

b.  The   occasion:    Joseph   and   Oliver 
translating 

c.  The  setting:  Susquehanna  County, 
Pennsylvania 

d.  Exact  time:  not  definitely  known 

e.  The    manner:    at    hands    of    Peter, 
James,  and  John 

Problems  and  projects: 

1.  Obtain  a  brief  review  of  the  career  of 
the  Melchizedek  Priesthood  on  earth,  based 
on  readings  in  Roberts'  Ecclesiastical  His-' 
tory,  Talmage's  The  Great  Apostacy. 

2.  To  forestall  cause  for  doubt  or  argu- 
ment, have  someone  summarize  carefully 
the  recorded  evidences,  direct  and  indirect, 
concerning  the  event  of  the  restoration  of 
the  Melchizedek  Priesthood. 

3.  Discuss  "Melchizedek  Priesthood"  as 
a  term  of  convenience. 

4.  What  significance  have  Peter,  James, 
and  John  as  central  figures  in  the  restoration 
of  the  Melchizedek  Priesthood? 

LESSON  XVIII 

The  Melchizedek  Priesthood: 

The  Elders 

(Read  Chapter  10,  pp.  111-115) 

I.  Division  of  labor  in  Melchizedek  Priest- 
hood 

a.  Among  six  offices 

b.  By  Priesthood-bearers  properly  au- 
thorized 

c.  Through   quorum  organization 
II.  Use  of  term  "Elder" 

a.  Specific:  first  office  in  Melchizedek 
Priesthood 

b.  General:  any  degree  in  Melchizedek 
Priesthood 

III.  Ordination  to  office  of  Elder 

a.  At  organization  of  Church:  Joseph 
Smith  and  Oliver  Cowdery 

b.  Today:  process  of  training  and  ad- 
vancement 

IV.  Elders  as   "standing   ministers":    spir- 
itual service 

a.  Confirmation  of  those  baptized 

b.  Ordination  to  lesser  offices 

c.  Administering  to  sick 

d.  Preaching  Gospel 

e.  Conducting   meetings 

V.  Authority    of    Elder:     Doctrine    and 
Covenants  20:38-45 

a.  "To  set  in  order  kingdom  of  God" 

b.  May  officiate  in   absence  of  other 
authority 

300 


PATRIARCH    JOSEPH    BENNETT   CELEBRATES   EIGHTY-EIGHTH    BIRTHDAY 

Seventy  living  descendants  and  many  friends  of  Patriarch  Joseph  Bennett  met  in  the  amusement  hall  of 
the  Twenty-fourth  Ward,  March  17,  1940,  to  honor  him  on  his  eighty-eighth  birthday. 

Born  in  Sheepshire,  Leicestershire,  England,  in  1852,  he  joined  the  Church  when  he  was  nineteen  years  of 
aae.  In  1S73,  he  came  to  Utah,  where  he  has  lived  most  of  the  time.  On  August  7,  1879,  he  married  Mary 
Ellen  Allen  in  the  Endowment  House.     She  bore  him  thirteen  children,  ten  of  whom  are  living.     She  died  in  1937. 

Elder  Bennett  was  set  apart  as  patriarch  by  President  Heber  J.  Grant  in  1916.  The  accompanying  picture 
shows  him  with  seventy  of  his  descendants,  who  prepared  a  program  and  served   refreshments  to  honor  him. 


c.  Enjoyment  of  Holy  Ghost 
VI.  Elders'  quorums 

a.  "Standing  ministers  to  my  Church" 
(See  Supplementary  Readings  3) 

b.  Responsibility  of  presiding 

Problems  and  projects: 

1.  Explain  why  there  was  no  ordination 
to  the  office  of  Elder  until  the  organization 
of  the  Church.  Is  there  need  for  offices  in 
the  Priesthood  outside  Church  organization? 

2.  What  does  being  "a  standing  minister" 
imply?  Here  is  an  opportunity  for  self- 
examination  on  the  part  of  Elders  and 
Elders'   quorums. 

3.  Call  for  brief  testimonies  founded  on 
the  performance  of  the  several  duties  of  an 
Elder,  each  testimony  to  be  devoted  to  a 
different   duty. 

4.  Discuss  the  process  of  training  and 
advancement  which  precedes  ordination  to 
the  office  of  Elder.  Do  you  consider  the 
preparation  adequate?  Defend  your  opin- 
ion. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  READINGS 

For  Priesthood  and  Church  Government 


1.  In  this  entire  book  of  Hebrews, 
Paul  reasons  with  the  Jews,  unto  whom 
the  epistle  was  addressed,  to  show 
them  that  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  whom 
they  had  crucified,  was  a  Priest  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedek,  and  that  the 
Priesthood  which  had  been  taken  away 
during  the  days  of  Moses  in  the  wilder- 
ness, had  been  restored  through  Him. 
The  Jews  entertained  the  idea  that 
Priesthood  necessarily  came  through 
the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  that  the  power 
and  the  authority  thereof — that  is,  to 
minister  in  all  things  pertaining  to  the 
Priesthood — were  confined  to  that 
tribe,  and  that  no  one  had  the  right  out- 
side of  that  tribe  to  officiate  in  the 
ordinances  pertaining  to  God  and  to 
mediation  between  God  and  the  people 
or  the  people  and  God.  But  Paul  very 
clearly  proved  in  his  reasoning  with 
them  that  there  was  a  Priesthood  higher 
than  that  which  had  been  exercised  by 
the  descendants  of  Aaron.  (George 
Q.    Cannon,    Journal    of    Discourses, 

2.  The  powers  of  the  Aaronic  Priest- 


hood reach  out  a  great  way,  for  we  are 
told  that  the  Priesthood  holds  the  keys 
of  the  ministration  of  angels.  But 
we  read  that  the  Melchizedek  Priest- 
hood contains  greater  powers  than 
that.  It  not  only  holds  the  keys 
of  the  ministration  of  angels,  but  of 
communion  with  the  heavenly  Jeru- 
salem, the  general  assembly  and  the 
church  of  the  first-born,  with  Jesus 
Christ  the  Mediator  of  the  new  cove- 
nant, and  God  the  highest  and  holiest 
of  all.  And  the  time  will  come  when 
under  this  Priesthood  to  those  who 
hold  this  authority  and  calling,  and 
have  the  spirit  of  it  and  minister  in  that 
spirit  and  obtain  the  power  thereof,  the 
Lord  will  unveil  His  face,  and  they  shall 
gaze  upon  His  glory.  (Charles  W. 
Penrose,  Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol. 
21,  p.  49.) 

3.  Numerically  considered,  Elders 
constitute  the  largest  body  of  Priest- 
hood; efficiency  and  activity  consider- 
ed, they  are  perhaps  at  present  the 
least  potent  factor  in  the  Church.  That 
is,  as  quorums,  their  influence  is  not 
felt  for  good  as  it  should  be.  Of  course, 
active  and  influential  individuals  holding 
the  office  of  Elder  are  to  be  found 
everywhere.  But  how  many  quorums 
have  made  themselves  felt  for  good  in 
their  ward  or  stake?  In  short,  how 
many  quorums  are  fostering  brother- 
hood and  fraternity  by  manifesting  that 
interest  and  concern  in  the  welfare  of 
individual  members  which  the  Lord  evi- 
dently intended?  The  answer  comes, 
too  few,  too  few.  Let  us,  by  united 
and  earnest  effort,  improve  these  con- 
ditions. Many  Elders,  after  being  per- 
mitted to  participate  in  some  of  the 
privileges  of  the  Elder,  fail  to  assume 
any  of  the  responsibilities  of  the  calling. 
This  should  not  be.  After  coming  from 
the  temple  or  from  the  missionary  field, 
every  young  Elder  should  report  him- 
self to  his  quorum  president,  saying  that 
he  is  now  ready  to  continue  his  labors 
as  "a  standing  minister  to  the  Church." 
(In  the  Realm  of  Quorum  Activity,  pp. 
43-44,  Third  Edition,  1930.) 


CONDUCTED   UNDER   THE   SUPERVISION   OF   THE    PRESIDING    BISHOPRIC EDITED    BY    JOHN    D.    GILES 


THE  AARONIC 
PRIESTHOOD 

Second  in  a  series  of  articles  by 
the  late  Elder  Orson  F.  Whitney, 
of    the    Council   of    the    Twelve. 

II. 

The  history  of  the  Aaronic 
Priesthood,  so  far  as  relates 
to  the  name  it  bears — since 
there  are  good  reasons  for  believing 
its  origin  more  ancient  still — begins 
with  the  calling  of  Aaron  to  the 
Bishopric,  which  holds  the  keys  of 
its  presidency.  This  call,  as  the 
Bible  reader  is  aware,  came  through 
Moses,  younger  brother  of  Aaron, 
and  chosen  Prophet  of  the  Most 
High.  It  was  in  the  wilderness  of 
Sinai,  fourteen  hundred  and  ninety- 
one  years  before  the  coming  of  the 
Savior.  The  Children  of  Israel,  in 
their  sublime  exodus  from  Egypt, 
after  the  miraculous  passage  of  the 
Red  Sea,  whose  retiring  waters  had 
rolled  over  the  heads  of  their  ene- 
mies, were  encamped  at  the  foot  of 
that  sacred  eminence,  ever  after  im- 
mortalized as  a  way-mark  in  the 
wanderings  and  subsequent  history 
of  the  Hebrew  nation. 

The  Lord  came  down  upon  Mount  Sinai, 
"in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,"  and  from 
the  midst  of  thunders,  lightnings,  and  thick 
clouds,  which  caused  the  mountain  to  quake 
and  obscured  His  glorious  presence  from 
the  gaze  of  the  unsanctified  multitude,  sum- 
moned Moses  up  into  the  top  of  the  Mount, 
and  there  delivered  unto  him,  among  other 
charges,   the  following: 

"Take  thou  unto  thee  Aaron,  thy  broth- 
er, and  his  sons  with  him,  from  among  the 
children  of  Israel,  that  he  may  minister 
unto  me  in  the  priest's  office,  even  Aaron, 
Tvfadab  and  Abihu,  Eleazer  and  Ithamar, 
Aaron's  sons. 

"And  thou  shalt  make  holy  garments  for 
Aaron  thy  brother,  for  glory  and  for  beauty. 

"And  thou  shalt  put  them  upon  Aaron 
thy  brother,  and  his  sons  with  him;  and 
shalt  anoint  them,  and  consecrate  them, 
and  sanctify  them,  that  they  may  minister 
unto  me  in  the  priest's  office." 

The  Lord  also  gave  to  Moses,  during  this 
interview,  the  Decalogue  or  Ten  Command- 
ments, which  He  had  previously  spoken 
in  the  hearing  of  all  Israel;  and  other  parts 
of  the  law  which  the  Prophet  afterwards 
embodied  in  his  famous  code.  Also  the 
pattern  of  the  Ark  or  sanctuary,  the  sym- 
bol of  the  covenant  God  had  made  with 
His  people;  and  the  Tabernacle  or  holy 
tent  where  the  Ark  was  to  be  deposited, 
where  the  priests  offered  sacrifice  and  made 
atonement  for  the  sins  of  the  nation,  and 
the  Lord  communicated  by  angels,  Urim 
and  Thummim  and  other  media,  with  those 
whom  He  had  chosen  to  represent  Him  in 
that  sacred  capacity.  He  likewise  instructed 
him  minutely  as  to  the  fashioning  of  their 
priestly   robes,    the   materials    to   be   used, 


JOSEPH  SMITH 

the  persons  who  should  make  them,  and 
prescribed  the  manner  in  which  these  things 
should  all  be  consecrated  to  His  service. 

It  may  be  as  well,  before  proceeding  fur- 
ther, to  call  the  attention  of  the  reader  to 
the  fact  that  the  Melchizedek  Priesthood — ■ 
though  not  perfectly  organized,  as  after 
the  Savior's  advent  and  as  it  is  today — was 
at  that  time  held  and  exercised  by  Moses, 
who  had  received  it  from  his  father-in-law, 
Jethro,  Priest  of  Midian,  and  had  doubt- 
less ordained  other  Priests  and  Elders  among 
the  tribes  of  Israel.  This  view,  which  is 
supported  by  revelation,  as  well  as  reason, 
will  explain  the  mention  made  of  these  sa- 
cerdotal oltices  prior  to  the  calling  of  Aaron 
and  his  sons.  Also,  why  it  was  that  Moses, 
Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  and  "seventy 
of  the  Elders  of  Israel"  were  enabled  to  see 
God  and  survive;  their  only  safeguard  in 
beholding  His  person,  or  witnessing  to  any 
great  extent  the  manifestations  of  His  pow- 
er, being,  as  we  are  taught,  the  possession 
of  the  Holy  Melchizedek  Priesthood. 

Furthermore,  that  Moses,  Aaron,  and 
others,  at  this  period  held  the  Lesser  Priest- 
hood likewise,  before  it  was  organized  with 
Aaron  at  its  head,  is  manifestly  no  less  true 
from  the  fact  of  their  having  the  Higher 
Priesthood  which  includes  it."  Hence,  the 
premise  that  there  are  good  reasons  for 
believing  the  Lesser  Priesthood  of  greater 
antiquity — referring  of  course  to  its  earthly 
record — than  the  time  we  are  now  consid- 
ering. In  other  words  that  it  was  held  by 
Adam,  Abel,  Enoch,  Noah,  Melchizedek 
(who  received  tithes  from  Abraham), 
Moses,  and  others  before  his  day,  who  built 
altars,  offered  sacrifices,  and  communicated 
with  the  Lord  through  the  medium  of  that 
greater  Priesthood  to  which  the  Lesser  is  an 
inseparable  appendage. 

In  assuming,  therefore,  a  commencing 
point  in  its  history,  it  must  be  understood 
that  we  simply  have  reference  to  the  time 
when  it  was  organized  by  Moses,  when  it 
was  re-christened  and  received  its  "new 
name"  which  has  ever  since  clung  to  it, 
and  was  confirmed  upon  Aaron  and  his 
seed  throughout  all  their  generations. 

But  to  resume  our  narrative.  Let  us  now 
return  and  see  how  Aaron  and  his  con- 
freres, on  the  eve  of  their  setting  apart  to 
these  sacred  honors,  were  conducting  them- 
selves with  the   people  left  in   his  charge, 


during  the  absence  of  their  prophet-leader 
in  the  Mount.  Forty  days  and  nights  had 
elapsed  since  he,  accompanied  only  by 
faithful  Joshua,  went  up  into  the  mountain 
to  commune  with  the  Almighty.  Alarmed 
at  his  protracted  stay,  unable  to  account 
for  it,  and  no  doubt  superstitious  as  to 
their  own  safety  without  supernatural  guid- 
ance, the  people,  not  free  from  the  taint 
of  contact  with  idolatrous  Egypt,  and  for- 
getful of  the  covenant  they  had  made  with 
God  on  the  day  the  Ten  Commandments 
were  thundered  from  the  mountain  top, 
"gathered  themselves  together  unto  Aaron, 
and  said  unto  him:  Up,  make  us  gods  which 
shall  go  before  us;  for  as  for  this  Moses, 
the  man  that  brought  us  up  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  we  wot  not  what  is  become 
of  him." 

Obedient  to  their  wishes,  and  perhaps 
fearful  of  consequences  if  he  refused,  Aaron 
took  of  their  golden  earrings  and  made  for 
them  a  molten  calf,  after  the  Egyptian  god 
Apis,  and,  having  finished  it  and  built  an 
altar  before  it,  blasphemously  proclaimed: 
"These  be  thy  gods,  O  Israel,  which  have 
brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 
He  also  announced  "a  feast  to  the  Lord" 
in  its  honor  on  the  morrow. 

In  this  sensual  and  blasphemous  worship 
the  Israelites  were  engaged,  when  Moses, 
the  Lord's   servant,   came   down   from  the 
Mount.  The  shouts  of  revelry  had  reached 
his  ears  far  up  the  height,   insomuch  that 
Joshua,  who  was  still  with  him,  suggested 
"a  noise  of  war  in  the  camp."  Moses,  how- 
ever, recognized  the  sound  of  singing,  hav- 
ing been  warned  of  the  Lord  of  what  was 
taking    place,    and    on   coming    nearer   the 
whole  revolting  truth  burst  upon  him.  The 
golden    god    on    high — the    people,    God's 
chosen  Israel,  feasting  and  dancing  before 
it  in  their  nakedness!   Such  was   the  soul- 
sickening    spectacle   presented    to   his   eye. 
In  his  hands  he  held  the  "tables  of  the  tes- 
timony "—the    divine     Decalogue,     written 
with  the  finger   of  God.   Before  his  eyes 
was  being  violated  the  very  first  of  those 
Ten  Commandments.   His  righteous   anger 
knew  no   bounds.      Casting   from  him  the 
stone  tablets,  which  shattered  as  they  fell, 
he  burst  like  a  storm  upon  the  astonished 
gaze  of  the  guilt-stricken  idolators.  Demol- 
ishing their  idol  and  scattering  its  ashes  to 
the  winds  and  waves,  he  called  for  all  who 
were  "on  the  Lord's  side"  to  rally  round 
him.  The  sons  of  Levi  responded  to  a  man. 
Moses,    directed   of   the   Lord,   commanded 
them  to   take  their  swords  and  go  in  and 
out  from  gate  to  gate,  and  slay  every  man 
his  son,   brother,   and   neighbor,    that   they 
might     consecrate    themselves    before    the 
Lord  and  make  atonement  for  the  great  sin 
that  had  been  committed.  The  stern  but  just 
behest  was  obeyed,  and  there  fell  that  day 
in  Israel  about  three  thousand  male  souls. 
The    expiation    being    complete,    Moses 
proceeded   to   organize   the   Priesthood,   as 
he  had  been  directed,  and  also  to  construct 
the  Tabernacle  and   the  Ark  according  to 
the  pattern  which  God  had  shown  him.  The 
garments   of   the  priests  and   the   appurte- 
nances of  the  sanctuary  were  fashioned  to 
conform   with   the    divine   instruction,   and 
Aaron  and  his  sons,  the  Ark,    the  Taber- 
nacle,  and   everything   connected  with   the 
sacred  ceremonial,  were  then  sanctified  and 
dedicated  with  solemn  and  impressive  rites, 
to  the  service  of  the  God  of  Israel. 

Prior   to  the   false  worship  of  Apis,  the 

301 


THE     IMPROVEMENT    ERA,    MAY,    1940 


Lord,  it  appears,  had  chosen  unto  Himself 
the  firstborn  males  of  every  household  in 
Israel,  as  a  relative  act  of  destroying  the 
firstborn  throughout  the  land  of  Egypt,  and 
had  sanctified  and  set  them  apart  for  some 
peculiar  purpose.  He  now  altered  His  orig- 
inal intention,  and  taking  the  tribe  of  Levi 
instead — to  which  Aaron  and  Moses  both 
belonged — made  of  them  the  sacerdotal 
class  of  the  nation.  This  selection  was  no 
doubt  intended  as  a  reward  for  the  zeal  they 
had  manifested  in  wiping  out  the  stain  of 
idolatry  from  Israel.  Let  us  quote  a  few 
passages  bearing  upon  this  important  event. 

"And  the  Lord  spake  unto  Moses,  saying, 
Bring  the  tribe  of  Levi  near,  and  present 
them  before  Aaron  the  priest,  that  they 
may  minister  unto  him." 

"And  thou  shalt  give  the  Levites  unto 
Aaron  and  to  his  sons;  they  are  wholly 
given  unto  him  out  of  the  children  of  Israel." 

"Behold,  I  have  taken  the  Levites  from 
among  the  children  of  Israel,  instead  of  all 
the  first  born  (males)  among  the  children 
of  Israel;  therefore  the  Levites  shall  be 
mine; 

"Because  all  the  firstborn  are  mine;  for 
on  the  day  that  I  smote  all  the  firstborn  in 
the  land  of  Egypt,  I  hallowed  unto  me  all 
the  firstborn  in  Israel,  both  man  and  beast; 
mine  they  shall  be;  I  am  the  Lord." 

"And  thou  shalt  take  the  Levites  for  me, 
instead  of  all  the  firstborn  among  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel;  and  the  cattle  of  the  Levites, 
instead  of  all  the  firstlings  among  the  cattle 
of  the  children  of  Israel." 

"And  for  those  that  are  to  be  redeemed 
of  the  two  hundred  and  three  score  and 
thirteen,  of  the  firstborn  of  the  children  of 
Israel,  which  are  more  than  the  Levites; 

"Thou  shalt  even  take  five  shekels  apiece 
by  the  poll,  after  the  shekel  of  the  sanc- 
tuary shalt  thou  take  them;  the  shekel  is 
twenty  gerahs. 

"And  thou  shalt  give  the  money,  where- 
with the  odd  number  of  them  is  to  be  re- 
deemed, unto  Aaron  and  to  his  sons. 

"And  Moses  took  the  redemption  money 
of  them  that  were  over  and  above  them 
that  were  redeemed  by  the  Levites. 

"And  Moses  gave  the  money  of  them 
that  were  redeemed  unto  Aaron,  and  to  his 
sons,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord, 
as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses." 

Thus  were  the  Levites  given  unto  the 
Priesthood  as  "a  gift  for  the  Lord,"  to  have 
charge  of  the  tabernacle  and  sanctuary — 
though  not  to  officiate  therein  as  did  the 
priests — and  to  "do  the  service  of  the  con- 
gregation." So  that  Aaron,  who  was  now 
High  Priest,  or  Bishop,  over  the  Lesser 
Priesthood,  not  only  had  to  assist  him  his 
sons,  in  the  Priests'  quorum  over  which  he 
immediately  presided,  but  also  a  great  body 
of  Levites — were  they  not  as  Teachers  and 
Deacons? — to  officiate  in  the  minor  quo- 
rums. Hence  the  origin  of  the  term  Levit- 
ical,  as  applied  to  this  Priesthood. 

Soon  after  this  organization  and  selec- 
tion, Nadab  and  Abihu  were  slain  by  the 
Lord  for  "offering  strange  fire"  before  Him, 
or  officiating  when  He  "commanded  them 
not,"  and  Eleazer,  the  third  son,  then  took 
the  senior's  place.  He  was  made  "chief  over 
the  chief  of  the  Levites,"  and  had  the  over- 
sight of  those  who  took  charge  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. Thus,  while  Aaron,  his  father,  was 
his  president,  he  in  turn  presided  over  his 
brethren  the  Levites;  Moses,  by  virtue  of 
his  Priesthood  and  prophetic  calling,  re- 
taining, under  God,  the  supreme  controll- 
ing power,  or  presidency  over  the  whole. 

Eleven  months  and  twenty  days  the  Is- 
raelites had  sojourned  in  Sinai.  During  this 
period  they  had  celebrated  their  second 
Passover,  or  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  by 

(Concluded  on  page  303) 

302 


ANNIVERSARY 

PARTICIPATION 

TO  BE  CHURCH-WIDE 

"\17hat  promises  to  be  the  most  gen- 
""  eral  observance  of  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  Restoration  of  the  Aaronic 
Priesthood  is  planned  for  May  18th 
and  19th. 

Saturday,  May  18th,  is  the  date  de- 
signated for  Aaronic  Priesthood  pil- 
grimages honoring  the  three  witnesses 
to  the  Book  of  Mormon.  The  principal 
celebration  will  be  at  the  grave  of 
Martin  Harris  in  Clarkston  Cemetery, 
Cache  County,  Utah. 

Presiding  Bishop  LeGrand  Richards, 
and  his  First  Counselor,  Marvin  O. 
Ashton,  will  participate.  Services  will 
be  held  on  the  grounds  of  the  Clark- 


ston Ward  Chapel,  with  members  of 
the  pilgrimage  visiting  the  grave  of 
Martin  Harris  before  and  after  the 
service.  Smithfield  Stake  Aaronic 
Priesthood  leaders  are  acting  as  hosts, 
with  the  other  stakes  of  Cache  Valley 
associated. 

Bishop  Joseph  L.  Wirthlin  will  join 
the  three  stakes  in  Canada  for  a  bar- 
becue and  program. 

On  Sunday,  May  19th,  all  Aaronic 
Priesthood  quorum  lessons  will  be  de- 
voted to  the  Restoration  anniversary, 
and  on  that  date  members  of  the  Aaron- 
ic Priesthood  will  conduct  Sacrament 
services  in  all  wards  and  branches  of 
the  Church. 

Programs  for  the  pilgrimage  and  the 
Sacrament  service  were  published  in 
the  Improvement  Era  for  March. 


YOUTH  AND  THE  WORD  OF  WISDOM 


REACTION  OF  TOBACCO 
ON  THE  HUMAN  BODY 

TJTow  tobacco  fumes  react  on  the 
body  is  a  matter  of  frequent  dis- 
cussion. By  the  process  of  absorption, 
the  poisons  pass  into  the  blood  stream. 
The  mucous  lining  of  the  nose,  mouth, 
throat,  lungs,  and  air  passages  has  an 
absorbing  surface  of  eight  hundred  to 
two  thousand  square  feet,  over  which 
the  whole  volume  of  blood  is  spread 
every  three  minutes.  Through  this 
delicate  membrane,  gases  of  all  kinds 
pass  into  the  blood  with  the  greatest 
facility  and  thus  enter  the  blood  and 
saturate  the  tissues  far  more  quickly 
than  when  taken  into  the  stomach.  One 
who  smokes  an  ounce  of  tobacco  may 
absorb  from  seven  to  ten  grains  of 
nicotine  along  with  the  other  poisons 
in  the  fumes. 

Scientific  experiments  show  that 
cigarette  smoke  is  a  deadly  poison. 
Experiments  on  snakes,  birds,  and 
small  animals  prove  that  it  is  deadly  in 
very  small  doses.  One  drop  given  to 
a  sparrow  killed  it  in  seventy  seconds; 
two  drops  killed  a  snake  in  one-half 
of  a  minute.  This  same  poison  has  its 
effect  upon  the  human  body  in  general 
by  affecting  the  mucous  membranes, 
lungs,  digestive  system,  glands,  and  in- 
ternal secretion,  heart,  blood  vessels, 
sight,  hearing,  heart  rate,  and  the  nerv- 
ous system,  with  an  increase  in  blood 
pressure. 

COLLEGE  AND  HIGH  SCHOOL 
HANDICAPS 

/"^OLLEGE  and  school  records  show  that 
^  the  use  of  tobacco  by  students 
lowers  their  mental  efficiency.  "A 
careful  study  through  a  long  period  of 
years  of  smoking  among  men  students 
by  Antioch  College  shows  that  a  defi- 
nite relation  is  established  between 
smoking  and  low  scholarship,  i.  e.,  31.8 
per  cent  of  non-smokers  fail  to  main- 
tain required  grades,  while  62.3  per  cent 
of  heavy  smokers  similarly  failed;  also 


a  similar  study  on  high  school  boys  at 
Highland  Park,  Illinois,  shows  that  not 
a  single  graduate  was  a  smoker  while 
in  school.  The  forty-five  quitters  were 
all  smokers  and  in  poor  standing  in  their 
classes.  The  average  grade  of  seventy- 
seven  non-smokers  was  84%,  twenty- 
four  reformed  smokers  79%,  and  fifty- 
five  smokers  75%.  One  boy  who  was 
smoking  heavily  quit,  and  his  grades 
came  up  10%  in  six  weeks."1 

Superintendent  John  M.  Davis,  of 
Menomonie,  Michigan,  reports  in  a 
chart  on  five  hundred  high  school  boys 
as  follows:2 

GRADES: 


ige 

12 

13  

Smoker 

73    

75     

Non-sm 

83 

90 

14  

73     

89 

15 

16  

75    

75    

84 
87 

17  

68     

85 

Superintendent  H.  L.  Smith  of  Bloom- 
ington,  Indiana,  investigated  the  aver- 
age age  of  smokers  and  non-smokers 
to  the  number  of  950  in  his  school.  His 
report  is  as  follows:3 


4> 

<  £ 

.      41 

D3  ftj 
<* 

4) 

4J    U 

4)    C 

^rM 

VI 

O>o 

w  O 

4) 
T3 

2  a 

h  JL, 

4>,5 

to 

«w 

4)    C 

uC/3 

u 

>«H 

>  o 

X^ 

o 

<  o 

<Z 

W^S 

1 

9.17 

7.58 

1.59 

2 

9.66 

.51 

1.15 

3 

10.68 

9.36 

1.32 

4 

12.50 

10.55 

2.05 

5 

14.22 

12.21 

2.01 

6 

13.62 

12.42 

1.20 

7 

14.67 

13.42 

1.35 

8 

15.12 

14.65 

.47 

9 

16.47 

15.55 

.92 

10 

16.75 

16.17 

.58 

11 

18.00 

17.27 

.73 

12 

17.88 

17.55 

.33 

1What  People  Want  to  Know,  Boys'  and 
Girls'  Anti-Cigarette  League,  58  W.  Wash- 
ington St.,  Chicago. 

aO'Shea,  M.  V.,  Tobacco  and  Mental 
Efficiency,  p.  121. 

aO'Shea,  M.  V.,  Tobacco  and  Mental 
Efficiency,  p.  121. 


Aaronic  Priesthood 

( Concluded  from  page  302 ) 
which  they  commemorated  the  passing  over 
them  of  the  angel  of  death  when  he  slew 
the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians,  and  their 
deliverance  through  the  waters  of  the  sea. 
Two  other  annual  feasts  they  were  com- 
manded to  keep,  viz.:  the  feast  of  Pente- 
cost, or  the  promulgation  of  the  law,  and 
the  feast  of  Tabernacles,  or  tents,  commem- 
orating their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness.  The 
law  of  Moses  was  now  promulgated  and 
codified.  The  tables  of  the  testimony  had 
been  renewed,  and  with  other  sacred  relics 
were  placed  in  the  Ark  for  safe  keeping. 
The  sublime  system  of  heaven-revealed  re- 
ligion had  been  set  in  operation,  and  the 
civil  and  military  wings  of  this  nomadic 
power,  which  had  sprung  like  magic  from 
an  unorganized  rabble,  without  laws,  in- 
stitutions, or  prescribed  method  of  wor- 
ship, into  a  compact  and  powerful  nation, 
were  now  in  full  equipment  and  discipline. 
"On  to  Canaan!"  was  the  national  cry.  And 
so,  on  the  twentieth  day  of  their  second 
year,  or  about  May  20,  1490  B.  C,  the 
Camp  of  Israel  struck  their  tents  and  guid- 
ed by  the  cloud  and  pillar  of  God,  which 
had  been  with  them  since  the  memorable 
night  when  the  fetters  of  two  centuries 
were  stricken  off  and  the  power  of  Egypt 
submerged,  they  began  their  march  through 
the  Sinaitic  desert  towards  the  wilderness 
of  Paran. 

The  order  of  this  remarkable  procession 
was  as  follows:  Foremost,  rose  aloft  the 
standard  of  Judah,  the  coming  kingly  pow- 
er of  the  tribes,  and  following,  the  tribes 
and  armies  of  Issachar  and  Zebulon.  Then 
the  sons  of  Gershon  and  Merari1  bearing 
the  components  of  the  Tabernacle,  which 
it  was  their  duty  to  set  up  and  take  down, 
as  the  camp  rested  or  resumed  its  journey. 
The  standard  of  Reuben  was  next  advanced, 
and  immediately  in  his  rear  marched  Sim- 
eon and  Gad.  Then  the  Ark  of  God  ap- 
peared, borne  in  the  very  center  of  the 
moving  host,  on  the  shoulders  of  the  sons 
of  Kohath.2  The  half  tribes  of  Joseph — 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh — went  next,  the 
standard  of  Ephraim  being  their  rallying 
center,  and  also  for  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  Benjamin.  Then  set  forward  the  standard 
of  Dan,  with  his  tribe  and  those  of  Asher 
and  Naphtali  following  and  bringing  up 
the  rear. 

This  vast  host,  comprising  an  army  of 
over  half  a  million,  and  a  total  population 
of  nearly  three  millions  of  souls,  was  di- 
vided into  four  camps  of  three  tribes  each, 
exclusive  of  the  Levites;  Joseph  being  twice 
numbered,  in  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  to 
make  up,  in  the  tribal  count,  for  the  ab- 
sence of  the  sacred  class  from  the  secular 
enumeration.  When  the  cloud  rested,  indi- 
cating their  stopping  place,  the  tents  were 
set  surrounding  the  Tabernacle  of  the  con- 
gregation; the  camp  of  Judah  on  the  east, 
that  of  Reuben  on  the  south,  Ephraim  on 
the  west,  and  Dan  upon  the  north.  The 
Levites  encompassed  the  Tabernacle  imme- 
diately about,  in  order  to  prevent  the  un- 
sanctified  from  approaching  too  near,  and 
purposely  or  inadvertently  defiling  it,  an 
offense  punishable  by  death.  The  sacred 
historian  tells  us  that  when  the  Ark  set 
forward,  Moses  said:  "Rise  up,  O  Lord, 
and  let  Thine  enemies  be  scattered;  and 
let  them  that  hate  Thee  flee  before  Thee!" 
When  it  rested,  the  prophet  said:  "Return, 
O  Lord,  unto  the  many  thousands  of 
Israel!" 

(To  be  continued) 


1The  first  and  third  sons  of  Levi. 
2Second    son    of    Levi    and    grandfather 
of  Moses  and  Aaron. 


U)wuL  JstochiibA  VftsiMjaqsL  fan.  $un&,  1%0 

A  DAY  OF  WARNING 

This  is  a  day  of  warning  and  not  a  day  of  many  words,  for  I,  the  Lord, 
am  not  to  be  mocked  in  the  last  days.     Doctrine  and  Covenants  63:85. 

Cince  the  date  upon  which  the  foregoing  statement  was  given  in  a 
^  revelation  through  Joseph  Smith,  the  Prophet,  (August,  1831),  many 
additional  warnings  have  been  given  to  the  people  through  Church  leaders. 
In  view  of  conditions  in  the  world  today,  it  is  well  for  Latter-day 
Saints  to  consider  seriously  the  advice  and  admonitions  which  have  been 
given,  and  to  prepare  themselves  against  the  time  when  the  prophecies 
will  be  fulfilled.  From  an  article  by  Elder  Joseph  Fielding  Smith  in  the 
Deseret  News  Church  Section,  February  10,  1940,  the  following  quotations 
have  been  taken: 

President  Joseph  Smith  said: 

Look  to  the  Presidency  and  receive  instruction.  Every  man  who  is  afraid, 
covetous,  will  be  taken  in  a  snare.  The  time  is  soon  coming,  when  no  man  will 
have  any  peace  but  in  Zion  and  her  stakes.  .  .  . 

These  things  are  at  our  doors.  They  will  follow  the  Saints  of  God  from  city 
to  city.  Satan  will  rage,  and  the  spirit  of  the  devil  is  now  enraged.  I  know  not 
how  soon  these  things  will  take  place;  but  with  a  view  of  them,  shall  I  cry  peace? 
No!  I  will  lift  up  my  voice  and  testify  of  them.  How  long  you  will  have  good 
crops,  and  the  famine  be  kept  off,  I  do  not  know;  when  the  fig  tree  leaves,  know 
then  that  summer  is  nigh  at  hand. 

President  Brigham  Young  gave  this  warning: 

Do  you  think  there  is  calamity  abroad  now  among  the  people?  .  .  .  All  we  have 
yet  heard  and  all  we  have  experienced  is  scarcely  a  preface  to  the  sermon  that  is 
going  to  be  preached.  When  the  testimony  of  the  Elders  ceases  to  be  given,  and 
the  Lord  says  to  them,  "come  home;  I  will  now  preach  My  own  sermons  to  the 
nations  of  the  earth,"  all  you  now  know  can  scarcely  be  called  a  preface  to  the 
sermon  that  will  be  preached  with  fire  and  sword,  tempests,  earthquake,  hail,  rain, 
thunders  and  lightnings,  and  fearful  destruction. 

President  Jedediah  M.  Grant  added  this  comment: 

Consequently,  when  we  see  nation  stirred  up  against  nation,  and  on  the  other 
hand  see  other  nations  exerting  a  powerful  influence  to  bring  about  negotiations  of 
peace,  shall  we  say  they  can  bring  it  about?  Do  we  expect  they  can  stay  the 
outward  course  of  war?  The  Prophet  of  God  has  spoken  it  all,  and  we  expect  to 
see  the  work  go  on — and  see  all  things  fulfilled  as  the  prophets  have  declared  by 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  in  them. 

President  John  Taylor's  statement: 

Were  we  surprised  when  the  last  terrible  war  took  place  here  in  the  United 
States?  No!  Good  Latter-day  Saints  were  not,  for  they  had  been  told  about  it. 
Joseph  Smith  had  told  them  where  it  would  start,  that  it  should  be  a  terrible  time 
of  bloodshed  and  that  it  should  start  in  South  Carolina.  But  I  tell  you  today  the 
end  is  not  yet.  You  will  see  worse  things  than  that,  for  God  will  lay  His  hand 
upon  the  nations,  and  they  will  feel  it  more  terribly  than  ever  they  have  done 
before;  there  will  be  more  bloodshed,  more  ruin,  more  devastation  than  ever  they 
have  seen  it  before.  Write  it  down!  You  will  see  it  come  to  pass,  it  is  only  just 
starting  in. 

President  Wilford  Woodruff,  more  recently,  said: 
I  heard  the  Prophet  Joseph  bear  his  testimony  to  these  events  that  would 
transpire  in  the  earth.  .  .  .  We  cannot  draw  a  veil  over  the  events  that  await  this 
generation.     No  man  that  is  inspired  by  the  Spirit  and  power  of  God  can  close 
his  ears,  his  eyes,  or  his  lips  to  these  things. 

The  warnings  from  the  Lord,  Himself,  are  clear.     He  says: 

The  Lord's  scourge  shall  pass  over  by  night  and  by  day,  and  the  report  there- 
of shall  vex  all  people;  yea,  it  shall  not  be  stayed  until  the  Lord  come;  for  the 
indignation  of  the  Lord  is  kindled  against  their  abominations  and  all  their  wicked 
works. 

But  the  promise  has  been  made  to  Zion  and  the  pure  in  heart,  that 
they  shall  escape  if  they  "observe  to  do  all  things  whatsoever  I  (the  Lord) 
have  commanded." 

The  Doctrine  and  Covenants  (45:38-41)   reads: 

Even  so  it  shall  be  in  that  day  when  they  shall  see  all  these  things,  then  shall 
they  know  that  the  hour  is  nigh.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  he  that  feareth 
Me  shall  be  looking  forth  for  the  great  day  of  the  Lord  to  come,  even  for  the 
signs  of  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man.  And  they  shall  see  signs  and  wonders, 
for  they  shall  be  shown  forth  in  the  heavens  above,  and  in  the  earth  beneath.  And 
they  shall  behold  blood,  and  fire,  and  vapors  of  smoke. 

The  Bible  (St.  Luke  21:36)  gives  this  admonition: 
Watch  ye  therefore,  and  pray  always,  that  ye  may  be  accounted  worthy  to 
escape  all  these  things  that  shall  come  to  pass,  and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  Man. 

All  Latter-day  Saints  should  give  heed  to  the  counsel  of  the  servants 
of  the  Lord.  We  should  prepare  ourselves  by  observing  the  teachings  of 
the  Gospel  and  the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  by  refraining  from  evil 
practices,  by  observing  our  prayers,  and  by  showing  brotherly  love  in  our 
dealings  with  each  other. 


303 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


Put  a  Song 

in 
their  lives! 


Every  boy  or  girl  who  is  trained 
in  music,  dramatic  art  or  danc- 
ing will  live  a  fuller  and  hap- 
pier life. 

This  priceless  side  of  education 
costs  little  but  it  yields  rich  re- 
sults in  genuine  culture. 

Inquire  today  about  class  work  in 
violin,  piano,  dancing  and  dramatic 
art  for  children — and  private  and 
class  lessons  in  all  instruments, 
voice,  dancing,  art,  dramatic  art  for 
all  ages. 

Write  for  information  on  the  SUMMER 
SCHOOL,  scheduled  June  10  to  July 
20. 


C 


SCHOOL  OF  MUSIC  &  ART 
Salt  Lake  City 

304 


WUisJul 


Note:  The  Church  Music  Com- 
mittee invites  your  attention  again 
to  the  Church- wide  Hymn  Singing 
Project,  The  hymn  for  May  is  "God 
Moves  in  a  Mysterious  Way."  See 
pages  203  and  236  in  the  April 
"Era"  [or  complete  instructions. 

TEMPO 

By  Dr.  Frank  W.  Asper 

A  hymn  should  be  played  through 
**  with  solid  organ  tone  after  it  has 
been  announced,  and  at  the  correct 
speed  to  set  the  pace  for  the  whole 
congregation.  The  entire  service  can 
have  a  good  or  a  bad  spirit  according 
to  the  way  the  first  hymn  is  announced. 

The  words  are,  of  course,  the  first 
consideration,  and  the  hymn  should  be 
taken  at  the  speed  at  which  it  may  best 
be  spoken  clearly  and  distinctly.  Sol- 
emn hymns  should  necessarily  be  taken 
more  slowly,  and  brighter  hymns  faster. 

The  size  of  the  hall  and  its  acoustics 
must  also  be  considered.  In  a  larger 
building  invariably  it  will  be  found  that 
more  time  must  be  allowed  for  the 
sound  to  carry.  The  size  of  the  con- 
gregation is  also  a  factor.  A  large 
group  is  necessarily  more  ponderous 
and  difficult  to  bring  into  line  than  the 
small  one,  and  one  would  also  not  ex- 
pect so  quick  a  response  from  older 
people  as  from  younger  people. 

At  the  end  of  the  announcement  of 
the  hymn,  the  congregation  or  choir 
and  organ  should  begin  promptly  on 
the  first  note  without  hesitation.  One 
of  the  commonest  faults  of  organists  is 
to  sound  the  lower  notes  of  the  first 
chord,  rolling  the  chord  upward  until 
all  the  notes  in  the  chord  are  played, 
This  will  invariably  result  in  poor  at- 
tacks and  indecision  on  the  part  of 
everyone  singing. 

In  playing  the  hymns  with  the  sing- 
ers, the  organist  should  avoid  all  sud- 
den and  abrupt  changes  either  in  tempo 
or  volume.  The  first  induces  ragged- 
ness  and  will  eventually  stop  the  par- 
ticipation of  many  people  in  the  sing- 
ing. Changes  in  volume  can  be  equally 
fatal.  If  a  member  of  the  congregation 
suddenly  finds  himself  singing  louder 
than  his  neighbors  or  with  but  little 
support  from  the  organ,  it  is  but  a  short 
time  before  he  is  frightened  into  silence, 
and  his  self-expression  through  the 
singing  of  the  hymns  is  forever  stifled. 

Sometimes  the  congregations  take 
the  liberty  of  making  holds,  as  in  Ed- 
wards' "I  know  That  My  Redeemer 
Lives,"  at  the  end  of  the  first  and  sec- 
ond phrases.  In  "How  Firm  a  Founda- 
tion," the  second  verse,  beginning,  "As 
thy  days,"  the  first  syllable  comes  as 
a  surprise  and  is  unlike  any  of  the  other 
verses.  If  this  phrase  is  taken  in  strict 
time,  most  people  will  omit  the  first  few 


syllables,  weakening  the  sound  of  the 
hymn  and  dampening  their  enthusiasm; 
but  if  a  slight  pause  is  made,  then  start- 
ing out  on  the  words  giving  each  a 
quarter  note  the  leader  will  be  assured 
of  whole-hearted  singing. 

Playing  accompaniments  is  a  "give- 
and-take"  proposition  and  one  must 
learn  to  give  a  little  here  and  there  so 
that  the  structure  will  not  be  weakened. 
Another  example  of  changed  time 
values  is  at  the  end  of  every  phrase  in 
the  hymn,  "I'll  Go  Where  You  Want 
Me  To  Go."  These  notes  should  be 
held  out  the  value  of  five  eighth  notes, 
but  very  often  both  congregation  and 
director  cut  them  short  and  begin  the 
next  line  too  early. 

All  hymns  should  be  phrased  on  the 
organ  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the 
accompaning  words  would  be  recited. 
After  all,  the  main  thing  in  a  hymn  is 
the  words;  the  music  is  there  to  give  the 
words  emphasis.  One  of  our  best  ex- 
amples in  which  words  and  musical 
phrases  do  not  agree  is  hymn  number 
220  in  the  Deseret  Sunday  School  Song 
Book,  "Lead,  Kindly  Light."  In  this 
case  the  hymn  should  be  played  not 
according  to  the  musical  phrases,  but 
according  to  the  expression  of  the 
words. 

It  is  especially  imperative  that  the 
organist  hear  the  different  effects  and 
the  various  volumes  of  tone  on  the 
organ  from  the  rear  of  the  building  when 
it  is  filled.  When  he  is  playing  at  the 
console  with  singers  constantly  shout- 
ing in  his  ears,  it  is  impossible  to  judge 
balance  and  blend  correctly.  They 
can  be  achieved  only  by  having  some- 
one else  play  and  listening  to  the  hymn 
from  a  distance.  Such  a  procedure  will 
greatly  improve  his  use  of  the  organ. 


B.  Cecil  Gates  Writes 
Useful  Cantata 

(Concluded  from  page  297) 
melodies  first  began  to  haunt  his  brain : 
to  provide  music  at  once  beautiful 
enough  to  do  justice  to  an  exalted  theme 
and  simple  enough  to  be  sung  by  groups 
with  the  limitations  of  the  average 
ward  choir. 

Written  for  women's  voices  with  an 
added  optional  arrangement  for  mixed 
voices,  the  effect  of  the  cantata  is  full 
no  matter  how  slight  the  performance 
of  men's  parts.  While  forming  a  the- 
matic whole  joined  by  recitatives,  the 
seven  numbers  comprising  the  cantata 
also  form  individual  concert  pieces,  an- 
other planned  feature  on  the  part  of 
the  composer  which  current  use  is  prov- 
ing valid.  Listeners  everywhere  will 
soon  link  numbers  from  Resurrection 
Morning  with  the  already  well  known 
"Lord's  Prayer"  and  "My  Redeemer 
Lives"  by  the  same  composer. 


General  Superintendency 
Y.  M.  M.  I.  A. 

GEORGE  Q.  MORRIS 

JOSEPH   J.  CANNON 

BURTON  K.  FARNSWORTH 

OSCAR    A.    KIRKHAM, 

Executive  Secretary 


General  Offices  Y.  M.  M.  I. 

50  NORTH  MAIN  STREET 

SALT  LAKE  CITY,  UTAH 

General  Offices  Y.  W.  M.  I.  A. 

33  BISHOP'S  BUILDING 

SALT  LAKE  CITY.  UTAH 

Send  all  Correspondence  to  Committees  Direct  to  General  Offices 


General  Presidency 
Y.  W.  M.  I.  A. 

LUCY  GRANT  CANNON 

HELEN  S.   WILLIAMS 

VERNA  W.  GODDARD 

CLARISSA  A.  BEESLEY, 

Executive  Secretary 


IMPORTANT  ANNOUNCEMENT 

HpHE  introduction,  last  year,  o£  Special 
A  Interest  Groups  into  the  M  Men 
and  Gleaner  departments  ( for  those  of 
25  to  30)  has  proved  to  be  so  successful 
that  it  has  been  decided  to  continue 
them  permanently  in  our  program,  but 
under  a  slightly  modified  plan. 

Beginning  with  June  l*st,  the  M  Men 
and  Gleaner  departments  will  include 
young  men  and  women  of  the  ages  of 
seventeen  to  about  twenty-four  or 
twenty- five  years.  All  members  above 
this  group,  including  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Adult  department,  will  be 
known  as  Special  Interest  Groups.  A 
new  joint  committee  appointed  on  the 
General  Boards  is  going  forward  en- 
thusiastically in  the  preparation  of  a 
number  of  courses  of  study  and  ac- 
tivity from  which  these  groups  may 
choose.  There  may  be  one,  two,  or 
more  groups  in  each  ward,  meeting  and 
studying  according  to  interest.  Each 
ward  group  may  be  organized  with  its 
own  president,  secretary,  etc.,  but  all 
of  the  groups  will  be  directly  under  the 
supervision  of  the  ward  Manual  coun- 
selors. Thus,  there  is  one  fewer  de- 
partment leader  to  appoint  in  each 
ward,  when  organizing  for  1940-41. 
Where  special  group  leaders  are  needed 
they  should  be  selected  by  the  Manual 
counselors  and  the  groups'  officers  in 
joint  consultation. 

Concerning  Adult  Groups 

Where,  however,  there  is  now  a 
strong  Adult  group  organized  with  an 
interested  and  capable  leader,  it  should 
be  maintained  and  go  forward  for  next 
year  as  a  Special  Interest  Group,  the 
leader  continuing  or  not,  as  desired. 

Stake  Organization 

The  stake  Manual  counselors  will 
give  general  supervision  to  these  groups 
as  they  do  to  all  other  departments,  but 
there  should  be  appointed  two  stake 
Special  Interest  Group  leaders  or  super- 
visors, one  for  the  Young  Men  and  one 
for  the  Young  Women,  to  take  the  place 
of  former  stake  Adult  leaders. 

It  is  urged  that  this  organization 
be  effected  at  once,  as  many  wards  may 
wish  to  begin  organizing  groups  dur- 
ing the  summer. 

There  will  be  a  department  for  all 
Special  Interest  Group  supervisors  at 
the  coming  June  Conference. 


THE  JUNE  CONFERENCE 

Another  June  Conference  is  prac- 
**'  tically  ready.  The  dates  are  Fri- 
day, Saturday,  and  Sunday,  June  7,  8, 
and  9.  The  Summer  Recreation  Lead- 
ers Institute  is  planned  for  Monday. 
June  10.  A  program  which  encom- 
passes the  entire  M.  I.  A.  program,  giv- 
ing proper  emphasis  to  each  of  the 
major  features,  has  been  in  the  making 
for  several  months.  It  is  now  far 
enough  advanced  to  give  a  preview  on 
a  tentative  basis. 

The  Conference  will  open  with  a 
festival  reception  on  Temple  Square  on 
Friday  morning.  This  feature  will  bring 
a  touch  of  old  world  pageantry  and 
festivity  at  the  opening  of  our  Annual 
Assembly.  The  entire  opening  day  will 
be  devoted  to  the  festival  spirit.  At  a 
morning  general  session  in  the  Taber- 
nacle the  Theme  Festival  and  Honor 
Day  program  will  begin.  This  same 
festival  spirit  will  be  carried  into  the 
afternoon  session,  with  the  program 
varied  to  present  various  phases  of  the 
Theme  program. 

At  the  close  of  the  afternoon  session, 
a  unique  out-door  reception  will  be 
held  on  the  grounds  north  of  the  Taber- 
nacle. In  a  festival  setting  this  re- 
ception will  welcome  all  M.  I.  A.  dele- 
gates, both  stake  and  ward,  to  the  Con- 
ference. 

The  festival  day  will  be  climaxed  by 
the  big  Annual  Dance  Festival  at  Salt- 
air  which  will  feature  floor  show  num- 
bers, the  Bee-Hive  Theme  Dance,  So- 
cial Dancing,  and  the  official  M.  I.  A. 
dances.  On  this  day  also  sessions  of 
the  choral  clinic,  a  new  educational 
feature,  will  take  place. 

The  entire  day  on  Saturday,  June  8, 
will  be  devoted  to  department  sessions 
and  special  features.  Following  an 
early  general  session  in  the  Tabernacle, 
department  sessions  for  age  groups  in 
the  morning  and  activity  groups  in  the 
afternoon  will  also  include  special  fea- 
tures of  the  Bee-Hive  Girl  program 
celebrating  their  Silver  Jubilee  Anni- 
versary. The  Saturday  evening  session 
in  the  Tabernacle  will  include  a  presen- 
tation of  the  special  features. 

Sunday  will  be  devoted  entirely  to 
inspirational  meetings.  The  traditional 
annual  M.  I.  A.  testimony  meeting, 
which  has  long  been  recognized  as  the 
spiritual  highlight  of  the  Conference, 
will  be  held  as  usual.  Separate  ses- 
sions for  Young  Men  and  Young  Wom- 
en will  follow,  giving  special  emphasis 
to  important  features  of  the  two  pro- 
grams. 


The  afternoon  session  will  be  held  in 
the  Tabernacle  under  the  direction  of 
the  First  Presidency  of  the  Church. 

The  Sunday  evening  session  in  the 
Tabernacle,  featuring  the  patriotic 
theme  "America,"  will  have  as  its  out- 
standing highlight  an  address  by  Pres- 
ident J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr.,  of  the  First 
Presidency. 

The  Summer  Recreation  Leaders  In- 
stitute to  be  held  on  Monday,  June  10, 
will  feature  instructions  and  demon- 
strations on  "The  Summer  Way  for 
M.  I.  A."  This  feature  which  has 
become  increasingly  popular  each  year, 
will  stress  the  recommended  M.  I.  A. 
summer  features  for  all  departments  of 
the  M.  I.  A. 

The  Improvement  Era  for  June  will 
contain  a  detailed  program.  It  is  sug- 
gested that  plans  for  the  attendance  of 
stake  and  ward  officers  be  considered 
as  early  as  possible  in  order  that  proper 
arrangements  for  transportation,  lodg- 
ing, etc.,  might  be  made. 

M.  I.  A.  CONVENTIONS 

"pOR  several  years  the  M.  I.  A.  Annual 
Conventions  have  been  held  in  com- 
bination with  quarterly  conferences,  but 
a  change  in  the  general  plan  is  to  be 
made  this  year.  The  General  Author- 
ities of  the  Church  deem  it  advisable 
that  the  quarterly  conferences  be  re- 
served for  the  regular  business  of  the 
stakes,  and  have  requested  the  auxiliary 
organizations  to  hold  their  conventions 
on  separate  dates.  They  recommend 
that  these  conventions  take  the  place  of 
the  monthly  leadership  meetings  in  the 
respective  months  in  which  they  occur, 
permitting  each  organization,  however, 
to  utilize  more  time  than  would  ordinar- 
ily be  allotted  to  the  monthly  meetings. 
There  will  be  no  sessions  for  the  gen- 
eral public.  Permission  is  also  given 
to  group  adjacent  stakes. 

The  M.  I.  A.  will  continue  to  hold 
their  conventions  during  the  second  six 
months  of  the  year.  The  time  for  each 
convention  will  include  sessions  Satur- 
day evening  and  Sunday  morning  and 
afternoon.  We  have  prepared  the 
schedule  of  dates  keeping  in  mind  thr 
following  points: 

1.  Where  stakes  are  to  meet  singly,  the 
convention  is  placed,  as  far  as  possible,  on 
the  Sunday  on  which  the  monthly  leader- 
ship meeting  is  usually  held,  or,  where  the 
latter  is  held  on  a  week  evening,  on  the 
Sunday  nearest  to  that  date.  Where  stakes 
are  grouped  together,  an  effort  has  been 
made  to  choose  a  date  satisfactory  to  the 
entire  group. 

2.  Dates  are  set,  practically  in  every 
case,  in  months  where  there  are  no  quarterly 
conferences  for  the  stakes  concerned. 

305 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


l  f  - 


'  '  11  §  '  $  *  s  '  r    *' 


a  and  b.  Junior  Girls 
and  Explorers  of  the 
Wilshire  Ward,  Los 
Angeles  Stake,  in  a 
two-act  operetta — 
"The  Lady  Says  Yes" 


2.  Bee-Hive  Girls  of  the 
Yellowstone  Stake  pre- 
sented a  "Fun  Fest 
Buzz"  of  the  Nations. 
All  wards  in  Yellow- 
stone Stake  were  rep- 
resented, with  approx- 
imately three  hundred 
Bee- Hive  Girls  par- 
ticipating. 


Bee-Hive  Girls  of  the 
Burley  Stake  presented 
a  program  in  which 
one  hundred  five  girls 
participated.  The 

program  was  entitled 
"Jubilee  of  the  Na- 
tions." 


6-7th  Ward  Adult 
Class  of  the  Pioneer 
Stake,  Edward  H. 
Eardley,   instructor. 


High  Priest  Quorum 
social  held  in  Burley 
Stake.  The  Burley 
First  Ward  M.  I.  A. 
officers  and  teachers 
prepared  the  banquet 
which  was  served  by 
Bee-Hive,  Junior,  and 
Gleaner  girls. 


Cast  and  director  of 
"Adam  and  Eva"  a 
three-act  play  pre- 
sented in  Whitney 
Ward,  Franklin  Stake. 


Bee-Hive  Girls  of  the 
Third  Ward  in  Lib- 
erty Stake. 


S.  Reception  committee 
at  the  Silver  Jubilee 
Announcement  Tea, 
Sth  Ward,  Ogden 
Stake. 


9.  M  Men  and  Gleaner 
Valentine  party  held 
in  Sioux  Falls  Branch, 
South  Dakota  District 
of  the  North  Central 
States  Mission. 


10.  Bee-Hive  Girls  of  the 
Sth  Ward,  Ogden 
Stake. 


306 


3.  In  a  few  cases  the  dates  for  the  M.  I.  A. 
are  set  in  the  same  month  as  those  for  the 
Relief  Society,  with  two  or  three  weeks 
intervening;  but  in  no  case  do  conventions 
of  two  auxiliaries  fall  in  consecutive 
months. 

4.  As  a  general  rule  no  conventions  have 
been  scheduled  for  the  Fast  Sunday. 

Following  the  above  plan  the  sched- 
ule of  dates  will  soon  be  released.  They 
cover  a  period  of  fourteen  weeks,  be- 
ginning on  July  20-21  (Saturday  eve- 
ning and  Sunday)  and  ending  on  No- 
vember 16-17.  The  M.  I.  A.  Study 
Sheets  and  convention  programs  con- 
taining these  dates  will  be  forwarded 
soon  to  all  stakes. 

It  is  understood  that  on  the  date  on 
which  an  auxiliary  convention  is  being 
held,  all  other  auxiliaries  will  yield  the 
right  of  way,  excusing  from  any  leader- 
ship meeting,  all  officers  concerned  with 
the  convention  being  held. 

THREE  HUNDRED  WITNESS 
M.  I.  A.  FESTIVAL  IN 
SUMMIT  STAKE 

On  March  20,  1940,  the  Summit 
Stake  M.  I.  A.  Festival  in  music  and 
drama  occurred.  Choruses  from  four 
wards,  numbering  forty  persons,  at- 
tired in  formals,  were  grouped  about 
the  stage  and  sang  their  respective 
numbers  from  these  positions. 

The  Coalville  Ladies  chorus  opened 
the  festival  with  "The  Holiday"  di- 
rected by  Viola  Zumbrunnen.  "The 
Skiing  Song,"  a  mixed  chorus  number 
by  the  Hoytsville  Ward,  was  directed 
by  Isabell  Brown.  The  Wanship 
chorus  directed  by  Joseph  Beard  sang 
"Madam  Janette"  to  the  accompani- 
ment of  taps  played  on  the  cornet. 
"The  Happy  Song"  was  presented  by 
Henefer  Ward  under  the  direction  of 
Grace  Fowler. 

"The  Guiding  Light,"  1940  theme 
song,  was  sung  by  the  Hoytsville 
double  mixed  quartette  as  the  curtain 
rose  on  "A  Man's  House,"  three-act 
Biblical  drama.  L.  P.  Allen,  in  Biblical 
costume,  offered  the  opening  prayer. 

The  cast  for  the  play  was  composed 
of  members  from  the  Hoytsville  and 
Coalville  wards  and  every  character 
was  masterfully  portrayed.  The  color- 
ful and  rich  costumes  were  an  inspira- 
tion and  a  delight  to  the  eye.  The 
stage  setting,  scenery,  and  lighting  ef- 
fects were  most  artistic  and  realistic. 

The  play  was  of  such  appeal  to  the 
audience  which  packed  the  hall  that  the 
stake  board  arranged  a  second  per- 
formance in  the  high  school  auditorium, 
for  Thursday,  April  4. 

Much  praise  is  due  the  directors, 
Mrs.  David  Sharp,  Elda  Pace,  and 
M.  T.  Carmichael,  who  gave  much 
careful  thought  and  time  in  preparing 
the  festival. 

"OVER-SIXTY"  PARTY  GIVEN 
IN  SAN  FERNANDO 

(~\N  February  10,  1940,  a  dinner,  pro- 
^^  gram  and  dance  was  given  in  the 
lovely,  new  San  Fernando  Stake  recre- 
ation hall  in  Burbank,  California,  for  ail 
members  over  sixty  years  of  age. 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


One  hundred  fifty  persons  attended. 
Following  dinner  they  convened  in  the 
recreation  hall  where  community  sing- 
ing and  a  program  was  enjoyed,  follow- 
ed by  old-time  dances. 

President  David  H.  Cannon,  and  the 
committee  in  charge,  plan  to  have  at 
least  one  of  these  affairs  annually  in 
the  San  Fernando  Stake. 


RELATION  OF  THE  EXPLORER 
PROGRAM  TO  THE  CHURCH 
WELFARE  PLAN 

VS7hat  will  be  the  nature  and  extent 
vv  of  the  Church  Welfare  Plan  of 
the  future?  The  answer  is  being  written 
today  and  the  Explorer  leader  is  in  a 
position  to  influence  that  answer  ma- 
terially. The  nature  and  extent  of  the 
Church  Welfare  Plan  ten  years  from 
now  will  depend  partially  at  least  on 
the  ability  and  vocational  training  of 
the  Church  membership.  It  will  also 
be  influenced  very  materially  by  its  in- 
dustry or  willingness  to  work  for  a 
livelihood.  Explorer  leaders  are  in  a 
position  to  contribute  much  toward  the 
improvement  of  both  of  these  factors. 
The  basis  of  the  Explorer  program 
is  the  preparation  and  guidance  of  a 
young  man  into  a  vocation  in  which  he 
will  fit  satisfactorily.  The  heart  of  the 
program  inspires  and  encourages  in- 
dustry and  worthwhile  activity. 

An  Explorer  leader  should  view  with 
deep  concern  any  Explorer  who  appears 
to  be  indolent  and  indifferent  toward 
a  life's  work.  By  encouraging  such  a 
boy  to  become  active  in  the  program 
he  not  only  will  be  doing  him  a  great 
favor  but  his  Church  as  well.  Ex- 
plorers should  be  trained  to  respect  all 
men  who  do  the  work  of  the  world,  be 
it  the  city  physician,  who  maintains 
the  health  of  a  large  city,  or  the  garbage 
collector,  who  also  maintains  the  health 
of  the  same  city. 

The  opportunity  of  the  young  man  to 
secure  vocational  titles  and  honors  in 
fields  involving  more  than  one  hundred 
different  activities  should  prove  highly 
advantageous  to  him  in  selecting  a  vo- 
cation for  which  he  is  best  fitted.  If 
the  Explorer  is  unable  to  secure  one  of 
the  vocational  titles  available  because 
of  lack  of  previous  Scout  training  or 
otherwise,  he  should  be  urged  and  as- 
sisted to  do  something  very  specific 
and  at  least  equivalent  to  an  Explorer 
title  in  the  selection  and  preparation  of 
a  vocation.  This  is  one  of  the  require- 
ments of  an  Arrowhead  Explorer. 

It  is  indeed  a  proud  social  unit  that 
can  say,  "We  have  a  heavy  relief  load 
but  we  can  take  care  of  it  ourselves." 
It  is  a  much  prouder  society,  however, 
that  can  say,  "Through  our  foresight 
and  preparation  we  have  practically  no 
relief  load  to  take  care  of." 


SOUTH   LOS  ANGELES  STAKE  SPECIAL   INTEREST  GROUP  PARTY,   FEBRUARY  1,  1940 


JUNE  CONFERENCE 

"Oxplorer  leaders  attending  June  Con- 
■^  ference  will  hold  their  department 
sessions  at  Camp  Grant  on  the  Pioneer 
Trail.  Camp  Grant  lies  at  the  base  of 
Little  Mountain  at. the  mouth  of  Moun- 
tain Dell  Canyon.  In  this  pioneer  at- 
mosphere, Explorer  leaders  will  receive 
a  clearer  vision  of  their  program.  A 
dramatization,  "An  Explorer's  Legend," 
will  be  enacted  in  the  out-of-doors.  A 
"School  of  the  Log"  will  be  conducted 
for  one  hour  by  dividing  the  group  in 
ten  discussion  sections.  In  each  sec- 
tion will  be  a  demonstration  as  well  as 
presentations  and  discussion. 

It  is  anticipated  that  several  troops 
will  have  Explorers  making  the  Trek 
over  the  Trail  during  June  Conference. 
The  contact  of  these  Explorers  with 
the  leaders  in  their  department  session 
will  be  a  source  of  inspiration  and  in- 
terest to  those  present. 


Jutuou 


As  the  winter  and  early  spring  sea- 
*"*  son  of  the  M.  I.  A.  draws  to  a  close, 
the  Junior  Committee  wishes  to  con- 
gratulate the  Junior  Girls  and  their 
leaders  for  the  progress  they  have  made 
during  the  season  just  past. 

From  news  that  has  come  from  the 
field,  and  through  visits  made  by  mem- 
bers of  the  committee,  we  are  pleased 
to  note  that  the  girls  have  entered  into 
the  various  activities  wholeheartedly 
and  with  enthusiasm,  and  that  their  lives 
have  been  enriched  by  the  program. 

We  feel  that  this  success  is  due 
largely  to  the  leaders  who  have  been 
blessed  with  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  and 
have  been  devoted  and  unselfish  in  their 


efforts  to  bring  joy  and  loveliness  into 
the  lives  of  the  girls  whom  they  have 
been  guiding. 

And  now  as  June  Conference  ap- 
proaches, may  we  ask  you  to  plan  your 
affairs  so  that  you  can  come  to  this 
big  annual  event,  where  we  not  only 
get  much  help  for  our  department  work, 
but  where  there  is  so  much  inspiration 
and  such  a  rich  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Come  and  give  us  the  benefit  of  your 
own  influence  and  experiences. 

Following  this  event,  the  summer  sea- 
son of  Mutual  is  upon  us.  The  more 
intensive  program  is  finished  for  this 
year.  What  an  opportunity  for  you 
leaders  to  get  your  girls  around  you 
and  do  some  of  the  things  the  girls  love, 
and  for  which  you  haven't  had  much 
time  in  the  winter. 

The  girls  all  love  to  sing.  If  you 
haven't  already  organized  a  Junior 
chorus,  why  not  do  it  now,  and  prac- 
tice through  the  summer?  There  will 
be  many  occasions  when  a  Junior  Girl 
chorus  will  be  welcomed  on  programs 
throughout  the  coming  winter.  (For 
suitable  songs  see  this  year's  Junior 
Manual,  page   13.) 

Perhaps  the  reading  of  good  books 
has  been  neglected.  Why  not  meet  in 
the  girls'  homes  and  have  The  Three 
Sisters  and  The  Yearling,  or  other  sug- 
gested books  reviewed  and  discussed 
while  the  girls  sew  or  crochet? 

What  fun  it  will  be  to  have  an  out- 
door party  together  with  the  Explorers 
— a  weiner  roast  or  a  hiking  party. 

We  cannot  emphasize  too  strongly 
the  fact  that  M.  I,  A.  is  a  year-round 
affair,  and  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  be 
more  watchful  than  ever  during  this 
season,  and  provide  sufficient  whole- 
some activity  and  fun  that  will  bring 
real  joy  into  the  lives  of  these  girls. 

We  sincerely  hope  that  you  will  all 
find    genuine    happiness    through    the 


summer. 


307 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


"pROM  a  missionary  laboring  in  the 
Eastern  States  Mission  comes  a 
thrilling  testimony  of  the  effectiveness 
of  Scouting  in  the  missionary  program 
of  the  Church.  For  obvious  reasons, 
the  name  of  the  missionary  and  the  place 
where  the  experience  occurred  have 
been  omitted: 

I  am  a  missionary  laboring  here  .  .  . 
and  am  Scoutmaster  of  a  troop  of  non- 
member  Scouts.  I  would  very  much  like 
to  have  the  booklet  or  pamphlet  Scouting 
in  the  L.  D.  S.  Church  and  whatever  ma- 
terial about  our  Church  in  the  field  of 
Scouting  which  you  might  have.  .  .  . 

I  arrived  only  recently  from  Holland 
and  was  transferred  to  this  mission.  One 
evening  while  meeting  with  investigators, 
I  chanced  to  overhear  one  of  the  younger 
boys  mention  Scouts  and  I  asked  if  there 
were  many  Scout  troops  in  this  town  and 
I  was  told  that  there  were  three  or  four  and 
that  one,  which  was  sponsored  by  the  town 
newspaper,  was  disorganized  lacking  a 
Scoutmaster;  so  the  next  day  I  went  to  the 
newspaper  office  and  asked  if  I  might  join 
their  troop.  The  chairman  of  the  troop 
committee  thought  a  moment  and  took  me  up 
to  the  Council  offices  to  meet  the  Council 
executive.  When  he  learned  that  I  was  a 
Mormon,  he  began  telling  me  more  about 
how  our  Church  rated  in  Scouting  than  I 
knew  myself  and  before  I  knew  it,  I  was 
Scoutmaster  of  the  ....  Scout  troop.  He 
spoke  very  highly  of  our  Church  and  what 
it  was  doing  in  Scouting  and  that  it  led  all 
other  organizations  of  any  kind  in  the  United 
States  in  that  field.  It  seemed  that  being 
a  Mormon  was  all  the  reference  I  had  to 
have,  and  you  can  probably  imagine  what 
a  great  thrill  I  received  to  hear  our  Church 
paid  such  a  great  compliment. 

Then  in  the  course  of  giving  me  a  few 
instructions,  he  picked  up  the  Scouting  mag- 
azine for  September,  1939,  and  I  had  the 
added  thrill  of  discovering  and  showing  him 
the  picture  of  President  Grant  as  one  of  the 
receivers  of  the  Silver  Buffalo  award;  again 
President  Grant  and  Apostle  George  Albert 
Smith  in  a  picture  with  }.  Edgar  Hoover 
and  Daniel  Carter  Beard,  then  another 
picture  of  Oscar  Kirkham  leading  the 
Scouts  in  the  Star  Spangled  Banner  at  the 
World's  Fair. 

The  troop  is  back  in  order  again  and 
two  weeks  ago  the  troop  won  the  district 
rally  banner,  which  by  the  way,  is  the  first 
thing  the  troop  has  ever  won,  I  am  told. 
The  newspaper  is  cooperating  by  printing 
articles  submitted  by  my  companion  and 
myself.  ...  I  can't  express  enough  the 
gratitude  and  appreciation  which  I  feel  to 
our  Heavenly  Father  for  my  membership 
in  the  Church  and  the  training  I've  received 
from  it;  for  my  testimony  that  this  is  the 
only  true  Gospel  upon  the  earth  and  the 
great  privilege  which  I  have  of  bearing  that 
testimony  to  the  world.  .  .  . 

How  Scouting  assists  the  missionary 
work  of  the  Church  is  further  empha- 
sized by  the  experience  of  Harold  E. 
Poulson,  who  is  employed  in  Scotts 
Bluffs,  Nebraska,  where  he  has  cooper- 
ated with  the  Elders  and  local  Scout 
officials  in  carrying  forward  Scout  lead- 
ership training  and  activities.     An  ex- 

308 


Boy  Scout  leaders.  He  was  one  of 
four  speakers  representing  the  various 
religious  groups  at  the  National  Con- 
vocation of  Scouting  held  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  on  July  4, 1937,  at  which  time 
more  than  40,000  people  heard  his  ad- 
dress. 


Top:  Scotts  Bluff  Pa- 
trol of  local  leaders  and 
missionaries  in  Training 
Courses:  Harold  E.  Poul- 
son; Donald  C.  Evans,  Dis- 
trict President;  Forest 
Hirchi;  Dan  Eastman; 
Grant  C.  Cluff,  H.  E.  A. 
Chairman,  Wyo-Braska 
District.  Ray  Hamilton, 
Hollis  Brown,  Bob  Godell, 
Junior  Brown,  also  par- 
ticipated. 

Center:  First  Eagle 
Scout  troop  in  Chicago 
Stake— Troop     No.    558. 

Lower:      Louis    Martens,    Scoutmaster,    University 
Ward,    and    Chicago  Stake  Scout   Commissioner. 

perienced  Scouter,  Elder  Poulson  has 
rendered  outstanding  service  to  the 
Wyo-Braska  District  in  Scouting, 
where  he  recently  had  a  prominent  part 
in  conducting  a  training  course  for  all 
Scouters  of  that  area. 


Chicago  Stake  boasts  of  one  of  the 
most  efficient  and  highest  ranking  Scout 
troops  of  the  Chicago  Council.  The 
troop  is  from  the  University  Ward.  It 
contains  thirty-two  boys  of  whom 
twenty-eight  are  non-members.  Cath- 
olics, Protestants,  and  Jews  are  repre- 
sented in  the  group. 

The  first  Eagle  Scout  of  Chicago 
Stake,  Alven  Rasmussen,  was  given 
his  Eagle  Badge  during  Boy  Scout 
Week.  The  man  responsible  for  the 
splendid  showing  of  the  troop,  a  veteran 
in  Scouting,  is  Louis  Martens,  who  is 
also  Stake  Scout  Commissioner. 

The  success  of  the  University  Ward 
troop  has  encouraged  other  groups  and 
the  Stake  Superintendent,  Allen  C.  Holt, 
predicts  that  other  troops  will  be  or- 
ganized in  the  stake  next  season. 


President  J.  Reuben  Clark,  Jr.,  has 
been  selected  as  one  of  three  of  the 
principal  speakers  for  the  1940  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  National  Council  of  the 
Boy  Scouts  of  America,  which  will  be 
held  at  Oklahoma  City,  on  May  9-10. 

This  will  be  President  Clark's  second 
appearance  before  a  national  group  of 


"WHAT  IS  SO  RARE  AS 
A  DAY  IN  JUNE?'' 

"M[ow  that  regular  weekly  M.  I.  A. 

^  sessions  are  not  being  held,  and 
school  days  are  over  for  a  month  or 
two,  Bee-Hive  Girls  are  looking  for- 
ward to  summer  activity. 

The  Silver  Jubilee  event  for  June  is 
titled,  "Memory  Marking."  In  other 
words,  in  the  month  of  June  our  activity 
is  to  leave  a  permanent  "mark"  of  some 
nature  which  will  stand  as  a  tribute  to 
this  great  year  in  the  history  of  the 
Bee-Hive.  The  following  suggestions 
are  given :  Planting  a  Bee-Hive  tree 
or  shrub;  dedication  of  a  Bee-Hive 
camp  spot  or  outdoor  fireplace;  beau- 
tifying a  Bee-Hive  room;  a  trek  to  an 
historical  spot,  etc.  Appropriate  serv- 
ices should  be  held  commemorating  the 
event  you  choose.  Ask  for  the  co- 
operation of  your  ward  president  of 
Y.  W.  M.  I.  A.  and  your  bishopric  in 
planning  the  event.  We  hope  the  Bee- 
Hive  Girls  of  every  ward  in  the  entire 
Church  will  leave  something  permanent 
and  tangible  to  mark  our  twenty-five 
years  of  Bee-Keeping. 

1.  Do  your  girls  choose  to  plant  a  tree 
or  a  shrub?  The  tree  or  shrub  which  the 
girls  plant  will  become  dearer  to  them  as 
year  after  year  rolls  on.  As  a  tree  grows 
and  its  branches  expand  in  beauty,  so  will 
the  love  of  them  increase  in  the  hearts  of 
those  by  whom  they  were  planted  and 
watched  over  in  youth.  With  the  permis- 
sion of  your  ward  bishopric,  perhaps  the 
tree  or  shrub  could  be  planted  on  the 
grounds  surrounding  your  ward  chapel. 
Suggestions  for  selecting  a  tree  and  an  ap- 
propriate ceremony  for  the  occasion  may  be 
secured  by  writing  to  the  General  Board. 
In  many  communities  June  may  be  an  in- 
appropriate season  for  tree  planting.  If  so, 
you  may  wish  to  select  something  else. 

2.  If  you  have  ward  recreational 
grounds,  could  you,  with  the  full  approval 
of  your  ward  bishopric,  build  an  out-of- 
door  fireplace  there?  This  could  be  spon- 
sored by  the  Bee-Hive  Girls,  but,  of  course, 
help  of  the  fathers  of  the  girls  or  others 
will  be  required  in  the  actual  construction 
of  the  fireplace.  To  make  the  fireplace 
more  attractive,  the  rocks  used  could  be  of 
uniform  size.  Each  girl  might  be  asked  to 
bring  the  rock  nearest  the  size  required. 
Services  should  be  held  dedicating  this 
permanent  marker  to  the  ward  for  the  use 
and  enjoyment  of  all,  commemorating 
twenty-five  years  of  Bee-Keeping  in  the 
Church.  If  it  is  not  possible  to  put  the 
out-of-doors  fireplace  on  the  ward  recre- 
ational grounds,  there  might  be  some  nearby 
site,  camping  ground,  or  park  where  per- 
mission might  be  given  you  to  erect  this 
permanent  monument.  Ceremony  sugges- 
tions will  be  sent  upon  request. 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


3.  You  may  have  in  your  community  a 
Bee-Hive  Camp  spot  which  you  could  dedi- 
cate, setting  it  apart  as  camping  grounds 
for  Bee-Hive  Girls  of  today  and  tomorrow. 
Appropriate  services  could  be  held  for  this 
occasion. 

4.  A  practical  way  to  commemorate  this 
important  year  would  be  to  beautify  or 
recondition  the  Bee-Hive  room.  Where 
Bee-Hive  Girls  are  so  fortunate  as  to  have 
a  room  of  their  own  in  the  chapel,  many 
things  can  be  done  to  make  and  keep  it 
harmonious.  Perhaps  your  room  needs 
house-cleaning;  a  little  paint  and  attractive 
wallpaper  will  do  much.  Do  you  have 
curtains  and  an  appropriate  picture  or  two? 
Have  you  a  table,  a  locked  cupboard  or 
chest  in  which  you  can  keep  your  ma- 
terials and  supplies?  During  the  month  of 
June,  you  can  beautify  your  room  and 
before  the  close  of  the  month  have  a  house- 
warming,  with  Bee-Hive  songs  and  games 
and  light  refreshments;  inviting  the  mothers 
and  others  to  join  you.  Be  sure  to  sing  the 
song,  "My  Choice,"  Bee~Hive  Handbook, 
p.  151.  A  beautiful  Bee-Hive  room  would 
be  a  lasting  memorial  to  pass  on  to  future 
Bee-Hive  Swarms. 

5.  In  every  community  we  find  historical 
spots  or  landmarks.  Many  of  these  have 
been  marked  by  the  Trails  Associations  of 
the  various  states  and  are  readily  accessible 
to  all.  Services  held  at  one  of  these  his- 
torical landmarks,  with  Bee-Hive  songs 
and  the  history  of  the  landmark  recounted, 
would  be  interesting.  Many  landmarks 
are  not  so  well  known.  Would  it  not  be 
of  interest  to  interview  some  of  the  older 
residents  of  your  community,  learn  the  his- 
tory of  some  little-known  but  important  spot 
and  write  and  preserve  that  history?  Dur- 
ing June,  visit  this  place  of  interest,  holding 
services  there,  giving  the  spot  a  name  and 
a  marker,  if  possible,  stating  that  the  place 
had  been  named  and  the  marker  placed  there 
by  the  Bee-Hive  Girls  of  the  ward,  in  com- 
memoration of  twenty-five  years  of  Bee- 
Keeping  in  the  Church.  Perhaps  there  are 
trails  in  your  locality  which  have  never 
been  named  but  which  are  familiar  to  all. 
These  could  be  named  with  appropriate 
services. 

6.  We  have  seven  temples  in  the  Church. 
A  trip  by  Bee-Hive  Girls  for  baptisms  for 
the  dead  to  one  of  our  temples  would  be  a 
fitting  commemoration  of  our  Bee-Hive 
Jubilee  Year.  This  matter  should  be  dis- 
cussed early  with  the  ward  bishopric,  as 
well  as  the  temple  authorities,  so  that  ar- 
rangements may  be  made  for  this  joyous 
occasion. 

We  suggest  a  Bee-Hive  song  service 
by  Bee-Hive  Girls  before  June  M.  I.  A. 
Sunday  Evening  Service  commences, 
either  in  the  chapel  or  on  the  Church 
grounds.  Then  announcement  could  be 
made  in  these  services  of  the  event 
chosen  to  commemorate  the  Bee-Hive 
Jubilee  Year,  inviting  the  public  to  at- 
tend. 

June  Conference 

We  are  looking  forward  to  seeing 
you  all  at  June  Conference.  Do  all  you 
can  to  see  that  the  Bee-Keepers  who 
will  be  in  service  next  year  are  in  attend- 
ance. Many  thrilling  special  events 
will  be  in  the  program.  Department 
sessions  will  be  filled  with  helpful  dem- 
onstrations and  instructions. 

Five  Year  Service  Pins — As  usual 
these  awards  will  be  made  at  June  Con- 
ference. Please  send  in  to  the  General 
Board  office  immediately  the  names  of 
those  eligible  for  this  award. 


THE  "MILLENNIAL  STAR 


// 


( Concluded  /rom  page  28 1 ) 

books  that  were  printed,  and  Sister  Ben- 
bow,  who  started  to  America  the  same  year, 
left  names  enough  of  her  friends  to  receive 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  which 
amount  was  paid  them,  notwithstanding  I 
held  her  agreement  that  she  had  given  it 
to  the  Church. 

Well,  that  is  the  story  in  brief  of 
the  business  part  of  the  founding  of 
the  Millennial  Star  in  England,  in 
1840,  one  hundred  years  ago. 

As  I  write  this  article  I  have  before 
me  the  first  number  of  the  Mil- 
lennial Star.  It  is  a  very  creditable 
issue,  consisting  of  twenty-four 
pages,  well  written  and  well  ar- 
ranged by  that  able  young  poet, 
writer,  and  Apostle,  Parley  P.  Pratt. 
Truly,  what  a  man  does  well  and 
with  his  whole  heart,  survives,  and 
blesses  those  who  come  after  him. 
In  this  case,  Parley,  in  teaching  the 
inspired  doctrines  of  the  Prophet 
Joseph  Smith,  was  immortalizing 
himself,  though  perhaps  he  did  not 
realize  it  at  the  time.  The  first  para- 
graphs of  the  first  article  are  written 
as  a  poet  and  true  evangelist  would 
write  them: 

The  long  night  of  darkness  is  now  far 
spent — the  truth  revived  in  its  primitive 
simplicity  and  purity,  like  the  day-star  of 
the  horizon,  lights  up  the  dawn  of  that 
effulgent  morn  when  the  knowledge  of 
God  covers  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea. 

It  has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  send  forth 
an  HOLY  ANGEL,  to  restore  the  fulness 
of  the  Gospel,  with  all  its  attendant  bless- 
ings, to  bring  together  his  wandering  sheep 
into  one  fold,  to  restore  to  them  "the  faith 
which  was  once  delivered  to  the  Saints,"  and 
to  send  his  servants  in  these  days,  with  a 
special  message  to  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  in  order  to  prepare  all  who  will 
hearken,  for  the  second  advent  of  the 
Messiah,  which  is  near  at  hand. 

In  these  two  short  paragraphs  a 
beautiful  summation  is  given  of  the 
message  and  teachings  which  the 
Prophet  Joseph  Smith  presented  to 
the  world. 

In  the  second  article  Parley  sets 
forth  the  purposes  of  his  publication: 

It  is  with  heart-felt  joy  and  satisfaction 
we  have  the  pleasure  of  sending  forth  the 
first  number  of  the  Millennial  Star — that 
luminary,  which  rightly  conducted  may  be 
a  means  in  the  hand,  of  God  of  breaking 
the  slumber  and  silence  of  midnight  dark- 
ness, which,  like  a  gloomy  cloud,  has  long 
hung  over  the  moral  horizon — of  dispelling 
the  mists  of  error  and  superstition,  which 
have  darkened  the  understanding,  and  be- 
numbed and  blunted  every  great  and  noble 
faculty  of  the  soul — and  of  kindling  a  spark 
of  light  in  the  hearts  of  thousands,  which 
will  at  length  blaze  forth,  and  light  up  the 
dawn  of  that  bright  day  which  was  seen 
afar  off  by  holy  men  of  old — the  Sabbath 
of  Creation. 


He  was  sensible  of  his  inability 
to  act  as  editor  of  the  magazine  and 
felt  entirely  dependent  on  the  Spirit: 

We  are  truly  sensible  of  our  own  weak- 
ness and  inability  to  fill  so  important  a 
station — to  do  justice  to  subjects  so  glorious 
and  sublime,  to  themes  so  delightful,  so 
divine:  themes  which  have  exhausted  the 
eloquence  of  ancient  Prophets — the  melody 
of  inspired  poets:  themes,  of  which  angels 
have  tuned  their  sweetest  notes,  their 
sublimest  effusions,  in  strains  divinely  new, 
the  fulness  yet  untold. 

The  poet  soul  of  Parley  P.  Pratt 
could  almost  make  poetry  out  of 
prose. 

We  shall  carefully  give  heed  to  the  sure 
word  of  prophecy,  as  to  a  light  which 
shines  in  a  dark  place,  and  seek  for  the  in- 
spiration of  that  spirit  which  guides  into 
all  truth,  and  which  searches  all  things;  yea, 
the  deep  things  of  God. 

Following  the  introductory  ar- 
ticles there  is  a  splendid  bit  of  writ- 
ing from  Parley's  own  hand  on  the 
subject  of  the  millennium,  setting 
forth  the  nature  of  that  reign  of 
peace  as  he  understood  it  and  as  it 
had  been  outlined  to  him  by  the 
Prophet.  Then  he  prints  in  full,  sec- 
tions 20  and  107  of  the  Doctrine  and 
Covenants,  pertaining  to  the  nature, 
the  rights  and  duties  of  the  Priest- 
hood. Short  articles  on  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Jews,  the  persecution  of 
the  Jews,  temperance,  the  Latter-day 
Saints  in  America,  and  others,  fol- 
low. Parley  concludes  the  first  num- 
ber of  his  magazine  with  four  of  his 
own  poems  entitled,  "Invitation," 
"Baptism,"  "Morning  Hymn,"  and 
"Second  Advent."  The  last  poem, 
"Second  Advent,"  has  long  since  be- 
come familiar  in  song  to  the  Saints 
throughout  the  world.  We  now  call 
it  "Come  Thou,  O  King  of  Kings." 

One  hundred  years — and  the  little 
magazine,  the  Millennial  Star,  still 
makes  its  appearance,  now  weekly, 
to  the  people  of  the  British  Isles. 
It  still  sheds  its  radiance  abroad,  and 
bears  testimony  of  the  divine  mission 
of  the  Prophet  Joseph  Smith,  and  of 
the  great  work  which  he  brought 
forth  in  the  last  days.  Thousands 
of  voices  have  spoken  through  it; 
thousands  have  borne  witness  to  the 
truths  which  Parley  P.  Pratt  set 
forth  in  the  first  issue: 

It  has  pleased  the  Almighty  to  send  forth 
an  HOLY  ANGEL,  to  restore  the  fulness 
of  the  Gospel  ...  to  bring  his  wandering 
sheep  into  one  fold  ...  to  restore  the 
faith  which  was  once  delivered  to  the  Saints 
...  to  send  his  servants  in  these  last  days 
with  a  special  message  to  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  in  order  to  prepare  all  who 
will  hearken  for  the  Second  Advent  of  the 
Messiah,  which  is  near  at  hand. 

309 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 

THE  CHURCH  MOVES  ON 


{Concluded  from  page  287) 
and  Dr.  George  Albert  Smith,  Jr.,  as- 
sistant dean  of  the  Harvard  University 
graduate  school  of  business,  stated  that 
no  special  invitations  were  issued  be- 
cause they  wanted  "all  of  father's 
friends  to  attend." 

WARDS  RECEIVE 
NEW  BISHOPS 

'Mj'ew  bishops  recently  appointed  and 
™   the  men  they  succeed  in  office  in- 
clude the  following: 


Hartley  Ward,  Alberta  Stake,  H.  Vibert 
Woodruff  succeeds  Ervin  A.  Loose. 

Kimball  Ward,  Alberta  Stake,  Gerald 
Lowe  succeeds  John  C.  Peterson. 

Plymouth  Ward,  Bear  River  Stake,  Or- 
vil  J.  Nish  succeeds  Duaine  H.  Lamb. 

Lawrence  Branch,  Emery  Stake,  Ernest 
H.  Cullum  succeeds  Ira  N.  Day  as  Pre- 
siding Elder. 

Escalante  North  Ward,  Garfield  Stake, 
Andrew  Spencer  succeeds  Lorenzo  H. 
Griffin. 

Mountain  Home  Ward,  Moon  Lake 
Stake,  E.  Rue  Miles  succeeds  Clyde 
Rowley. 


o/e3  uou 


LONG  DISTANCE 


QfSA/feV 


COPR.,  1940-WALT  DISNEY  PRODUCTIONS. 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


JLou  cover  the  ground  —  you  get  your  full 
measure  of  extra  mileage  and  smooth  power 
when  you  fill  at  the  Standard  gasoline  pump. 
In  all  the  essential  qualities  of  performance, 
Standard  is  unsurpassed.  In  every  way  you  get 
more  value  per  gallon  at  Standard  —  where 
Extra  Service  is  the  everyday  thing. 

STANDARD  OIL  COMPANY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

STAN  DARD 

Gasoline  —  Unsurpassed 


Moore  Ward,  Lost  River  Stake,  Nephi 
Christensen  succeeds  Ray  King. 

Panaca  Ward,  Moapa  Stake,  Willis 
Robinson  succeeds  Dan  J.  Ronnow. 

Gila  Branch,  Mount  Graham  Stake,  J. 
William  Johns  succeeds  B.  Loman  Swapp 
as  presiding  Elder. 

Ruth  Ward,  Nevada  Stake,  Evan  Ira 
De  Spain  succeeds  Harry  C.  Erickson. 

Redmond  Ward,  North  Sevier  Stake, 
Leo  Christensen  succeeds  Charles  C.  Boss- 
hard  t. 

Elmhurst  Ward,  Oakland  Stake,  Milton 
P.  Ream  succeeds  Horace  J.  McFarlane. 

Miami  Ward,  St.  Joseph  Stake,  Floyd 
Mack  succeeds  Vera  Clark  Merrill. 

Richfield  Fourth  Ward,  Sevier  Stake, 
Christian  Peter  Christensen  succeeds  Han- 
mer  E.  Peterson. 

Newton  Ward,  Smithfield  Stake,  LeRoy 
G.  Salisbury  succeeds  Stanley  F.  Griffin. 

Echo  Branch,  Summit  Stake,  William  H. 
Chappel  succeeds  Raymond  Pace  as  pre- 
siding Elder. 

Logan  Third  Ward,  Cache  Stake,  John 
A.  Larsen  succeeds  William  Evans,  Jr. 

Ephraim  West  Ward,  South  Sanpete 
Stake,  Alma  Nielsen  succeeds  Wilford  L. 
Breinholt. 

Adamsville  Ward,  Beaver  Stake,  Lewis 
J.   Stewart  succeeds  Charles  Johnson. 

Sunnyside  Ward,  Carbon  Stake,  James 
E.  Peacock  succeeds  Albert  E.  Hopkinson. 

Corning  Ward,  Gridley  Stake,  Stephen 
R.  Angus,  released. 

Lund  Ward,  Idaho  Stake,  Luther  E.  Wil- 
son succeeds  Morris  Creer. 

St.  John  Ward,  Malad  Stake,  D.  Harold 
Jones  succeeds  Henry  D.  Jones,  deceased. 

Bern  Ward,  Montpelier  Stake,  Orlando 
N.  Kunz  succeeds  Parley  P.  Kunz. 

Las  Cruces  Branch,  Mount  Graham 
Stake,  Clifford  Allred  appointed  presiding 
Elder. 

Osgood  Ward,  North  Idaho  Falls  Stake, 
John  W.  Rawlins  succeeds  Alma  Williams. 

Monrovia  Ward,  Pasadena  Stake,  Har- 
old F.  Coleman  made  bishop;  was  former- 
ly presiding  Elder. 

Moreland  Ward,  Portland  Stake,  J.  Grant 
Stones  succeeds  George  L.  Scott. 

Salem  Ward,  Portland  Stake,  Don  H. 
Wall  succeeds  Arthur  C.  Hawkins. 

North  Hollywood  Ward,  San  Fernando 
Stake,  LeRoy  John  Buckmiller  succeeds 
Vernon  N.  Tidwell. 

Grays  Harbor  Branch,  Seattle  Stake, 
Calvin  A.  Johnson  released. 

Raymond  Branch,  Seattle  Stake,  Fred- 
erick F.  Irwin  released. 

Lund  Ward,  Nevada  Stake,  David  C. 
Gardner  succeeds  Arthur  N.  Carter. 

Stockton  Branch,  Tooele  Stake,  Leonard 
Berkley  Reynolds  succeeds  Floyd  A. 
Walker. 

Torrey  Ward,  Wayne  Stake,  E.  P.  Pec- 
tol  now  acting;  Sidney  P.  Clark  until  re- 
cently acting  since  release  of  Bishop  Arthur 
E.  Pierce. 

Mancos  Ward,  Young  Stake,  Lewis  A. 
Hancock  succeeds  James  W.  Goff. 

Kingston  Ward,  Garfield  Stake,  Cloyd 
Luther  Morrill  succeeds  William  J.  Luke. 

Elwood  Ward,  Bear  River  Stake,  Walter 
E.  Fridal  succeeds  Amos  P.  Hansen. 

Greenriver  Ward,  Carbon  Stake,  J.  Gar- 
rett Burnett  succeeds  Henry  Thompson. 

Basin  Ward,  Cassia  Stake,  Lloyd  H. 
Martin  succeeds  Orville  Heiner. 


310 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


The  Church  Moves  On     THE  COMMON  SOURCE  OF  RELIGIOUS  TRUTH 


Rochester  Branch,  Emery  Stake,  Homer 
J.  Edwards  succeeds  Mirl  H.  Ralphs  as 
presiding  Elder. 

Santa  Monica  Ward,  Inglewood  Stake, 
Wallace  Hammer  succeeds  E.  Garrett  Bar- 
low. 

Barnwell  Ward,  Lethbridge  Stake,  Leith 
I.  Johnson  succeeds  W.  Gilbert  Pierson. 

Diamond  Ward,  Lethbridge  Stake,  Ne- 
phi  L.  Hornberger  succeeds  Armond  V. 
Sabey. 

Tempe  Ward,  Maricopa  Stake,  Robert 
Lee  McCook  succeeds  Marion  W.  Turley. 

Ogden  Seventeenth  Ward,  Mount  Og- 
den  Stake,  Stanley  Robins  succeeds  Earl 
S.  Paul. 

Marriott  Ward,  North  Weber  Stake, 
Lavelle  Butt  succeeds  Lawrence  Ritchie. 

Panguitch  South  Ward,  Panguitch  Stake, 
John  Wilford  Roe  succeeds  James  P.  Cam- 
eron. 

St.  George  West  Ward,  St.  George 
Stake,  James  A.  Andrus  succeeds  Vernon 
Worthen. 

La  Sal  Branch,  San  Juan  Stake,  Oscar 
Jameson  appointed  presiding  Elder  to  suc- 
ceed Leland  W.  Redd. 

Rockport  Branch,  Summit  Stake,  Karl 
B.  Hixson  appointed  presiding  Elder. 

Pleasant  Grove  Third  Ward,  Timpano- 
gos  Stake,  Joseph  S.  Walker  succeeds  Har- 
old M.  Wright. 

Randolph  Ward,  Woodruff  Stake, 
George  Willard  Peart  succeeds  Lawrence 
B.  Johnson. 


(Continued  [rom  page  283) 

tached  too  much  saving  effect  to  the 
sacrifices  and  neglected  the  ethical 
aspects  of  true  religion,  Amos 
(speaking  for  the  Lord)  said: 

I  hate,  I  despise  your  feasts,  and  I  will 
take  no  delight  in  your  solemn  assemblies. 
Yea,  though  ye  offer  me  your  burnt-offer- 
ings and  meal-offerings,  I  will  not  accept 
them;  neither  will  I  regard  the  peace-offer- 
ings of  your  fat  beasts.  Take  thou  away 
from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs;  for  I  will 
not  hear  the  melody  of  thy  viols. 

But  let  justice  roll  down  as  waters,  and 
righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream." 

In  the  famous  "Golden  TV'4" 
the  Old  Testament,  Micah  made  a 
similar  protest.15  Hosea,  the  prophet 
as  mouthpiece  for 
"For  I  desire  good- 
sacrifice;  and  the 
knowledge  of  God  more  than  burnt- 
offerings."18 

It  may  be  true  that  some  of  the 
Hebrew  worshipers  over-estimated 
the  efficacy  of  animals'  blood  in  aton- 
ing for  sin;  but  when  the  Man  of 
Galilee    re-established    the    Gospel 

"""Amos   5:21-24;  4:4r. 

15Micah   6:1-8;   Jeremiah   6:19-21;   7:21-24. 
1BHosea  6:6;  Isaiah  58:1-7. 


of   love,   acting 
God,  also  said: 
ness,    and    not 


7H/S  WE S&71&  ft 


truths  upon  the  earth,  His  followers 
clearly  understood  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  animal  blood  to  free 
them  from  guilt.  They  believed  ( as 
Adam  had  earlier)  that  sacrifice 
was  merely  symbolical  of  the  infinite 
and  eternal  sacrifice  of  the  Master. 
The  Law  of  Moses  was  looked  upon 
as  being  "a  schoolmaster  to  bring 
them  unto  Christ."  In  the  words 
of  the  writer  of  Hebrews: 

It  is  impossible  that  the  blood  of  bulls 
and  goats  should  take  away  sin,  .  .  .  [yet] 
according  to  the  law,  I  may  almost  say, 
all  things  are  cleansed  with  blood,  and 
apart  from  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no 
redemption.  .  .  . 

But  Christ  .  .  .  through  his  own  blood, 
entered  in  once  for  all  into  the  holy  place, 
having  obtained  eternal  redemption.  .  .  . 
We  have  been  sanctified  through  the  offer- 
ing of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  once  for 
all  .  .  .  having  therefore,  brethren,  bold- 
ness to  enter  into  the  holy  place  by  the  blood 
of  Jesus.17 

The  same  doctrine  was  taught  bv 

the  writer  of  First  Peter: 

Ye   know    that    ye    were    not   redeemed 

with  corruptible  things,  .  .  .  But  with   the 

precious   blood    of    Christ,    as   of   a    lamb 

(Continued  on  page  312) 


"Hebrews      9:11-28; 
Ephesians   1:7. 


10:1-31;      Romans      3:21-27; 


WE'RE  SEEING  lots  of  real-life  sit- 
uations this  year  like  the  typical 
but  imaginary  one  shown  here.  It 
doesn't  take  you  long,  on  the  road  in 
a  1940  Ford  V-8,  to  find  that  here's 
the  greatest  money's  worth  so  little 
money  ever  bought. 

TRY  THE  RIDE!  The  surprising  big-car  ride 
that's   one   of    1940's   big  motoring  events! 

SEE  THE  ROOM!  Extra  knee-room,  leg-room, 
head-room  .  .  .  you'll  find  a  Ford  surpris- 
ingly big  inside  .  .  .  where  bigness  counts 
most! 

FEEL  THE  POWER!  Of  the  only  8-cylinder 
engine  in  any  low-price  car! 

CHECK  ON  ECONOMY!  The  85  h.p.  Ford's 
24.92  miles  per  gallon  in  the  famous  Gil- 
more- Yosemite  economy  test  was  best  of 
all  standard-equipped  cars  at  its  price! 

COMPARE  FEATURES!  Biggest  hydraulic 
brakes  at  low  price!  Semi-centrifugal  clutch! 
Positive,  easy-acting  finger-tip  gearshift! 

CHECK  EQUIPMENT!  See  how  much  more 
you  get  in  a  Ford  at  no  extra  cost! 

This  year  talk  "Trade"  with  your  Ford    Dealer  first! 


DIFFERENT  FROM   ANY  LOW- 
PRICE  CAR  YOU'VE  EVER  SEEN! 

311 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


HEALTH 
COOKER 

Consists  of  4  separate 
compartments  of  bright 
coinsteel  —  allowing 
preparation  of  com- 
plete meal  in  one 
utensil  over  one  burner 
— saving  labor  —  fuel 
but  most  important — 
minerals  and  vitamins 
lost  in  ordinary  cook- 
ing— food  steam  cook- 
ed in  finest  enamel — 
no  water  touches  food. 
Solid  copper  base — 
size  9x17— -$5.95  post- 
paid. Write  for  circular 

George  Ellis.  722  Hay 
St.,  Los  Angeles,  Calif. 


A  FULL  QUARTER 

Of  Inspiring  Study 
This  Summer 

Students  of  the  Church  University 
Summer  School  will  have  excep- 
tional opportunities  to  develop,  not 
only  mentally  but  ethically  and 
spiritually.  Added  to  the  regular 
faculty  are  visiting  specialists  such 
as  these: 

Dr.  M.  Lynn  Bennion,  Supervisor,  L.  D.  S. 
Seminaries. 

Dr.  Daryl  Chase,  Director,  L.  D.  S.  Insti- 
tute, Tucson,  Ariz. 

Dr.  Ralph  Horn,  Dean,  Buffalo  State  Teach- 
ers' College,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Ned  Dearborn,  Dean,  Division  of  Gen- 
eral Education,  New  York  Univ. 

Professor  Ernest  Jackman,  Exchange  Pro- 
fessor in  Education,  University  of 
Maine. 

Dr.  George  Stewart,  Professor  of  Agron- 
omy, U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Forest  Service. 

President  Glenn  Snow,  Dixie  Junior  Col- 
lege. 

Glen  Turner,  Curator,  Springville  Art 
Gallery. 

First  Term — June  10-July  19 
Alpine  Term— July  22-August  24 

Summer  Conference  on  Education, 
June  17-21 

For  details,  address  Dean  of  Summer 
School 

Brigham  Young  University 

PROVO,  UTAH 


THE  COMMON  SOURCE  OF  RELIGIOUS  TRUTH 


(Continued  from  page  31 1 ) 

without  blemish  and  without  spot:  Who 
verily  was  foreordained  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.18 

John  the  Revelator  contributed  the 
thought  that  Lucifer  and  his  follow- 
ers were  overcome  "by  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb  .  .  .  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world."19 

At  the  time  Christianity  was 
spreading  throughout  the  world — 
yes,  and  from  the  date  of  the  first 
apostasy  from  the  true  Gospel  in 
the  days  of  Adam  to  the  final  tri- 
umph of  Christianity  over  paganism 
in  392  A.  D. — the  majority  of  the 
heathenistic  religions  attributed  a 
pronounced  saving  efficacy  to  blood. 
Some  cults,  in  order  to  utilize  its 
potent,  life-giving  qualities,  washed 
or  sprinkled  their  devotees  in  it.20 
Some  pagans  even  drank  blood  for 
the  purpose  of  effecting  a  rebirth  or 
regeneration.21 

The  majority  of  the  pagan  groups 
offered  sacrifices  of  victims  ranging 
from  their  most  beautiful  youths  and 
most  perfect  babies  to  that  of  divers 
animals.     The  concept   underlying 

»1    Peter  1:18-21. 
^Revelations  12:11;   13:8. 

£0Exodus  24:5-8;  Harold  Willoughby,  Pagan  Regen- 
eration,  45,    129-132. 
O/fciU,  68-113. 


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that  practice  was  that  the  Divine 
Ruler  required  the  shedding  of  blood 
to  extricate  man  from  sin  and  win 
for  him  heavenly  grace.  Therefore, 
they  believed  that  on  certain  im- 
portant occasions  God  could  be  ap- 
peased only  through  the  sacrificing 
of  their  most  perfect  child.  Pagan 
influences  at  certain  times  caused 
even  God's  chosen  people,  Israel,  to 
offer  their  little  children  as  an  obla- 
tion for  sin.  Naturally  such  an 
apostate  practice  was  strenuously 
opposed  by  the  holy  prophets.22 

What  was  the  origin  of  such  a 
ghastly  rite?  It  is  probable  that  the 
offering  of  youths  and  maidens  is  an 
adoption  of  the  ideas  underlying  the 
atonement  of  Jesus  Christ.  Just  as 
the  Eternal  Father  willingly  gave 
his  Only  Begotten  Son  to  expiate 
penitent  mortals,  so  were  pagans 
convinced  that  they  must  sacrifice 
their  children  to  atone  for  their  trans- 
gressions. Hence  the  true  and  orig- 
inal concept  dates  back  to  the  first 
messianic  revelation  given  to  father 
Adam. 

Another  very  pertinent  religious 
practice  which  claimed  saving  grace 
for  the  devotees  comparable  to  the 
atonement  of  the  Man  of  Galilee 
was  that  of  taurobolium  (bath  in 
bull's  blood),  and  its  variant,  the 
criobolium  (bath  in  ram's  blood). 
The  Great  Mother  Mysteries  and 
Mithraism — two  of  the  strongest 
pagan  rivals  of  Christianity  during 
the  first  four  centuries  A.  D. — prom- 
ised salvation  to  proselytes  who 
cleansed  themselves  in  the  sacred 
blood  of  the  bull  or  ram. 

Drudentius,  a  Christian  poet,  who 
is  purported  to  have  been  an  eye- 
witness to  the  rite,  recorded  a  des- 
cription of  it  as  practiced  during  the 
second,  third,  and  fourth  centuries 
A.  D.23  Wearing  a  golden  crown 
and  with  his  body  wreathed  with 
fillets,  the  one  being  initiated  de- 
scended into  a  trench  which  was 
covered  with  a  platform  of  perfor- 
ated planks.  A  beautiful  bull, 
decorated  with  gold  and  flowers, 
was  led  on  the  platform  and  there 
stabbed  to  death  with  the  conse- 
crated spear.  "Its  hot  reeking  blood 
poured  in  torrents  through  the  aper- 
tures, and  was  received  with  devout 
eagerness  by  the  expectant  wor- 
shiper" below.2*    After  this  baptism, 


^Ezekiel  20:30-31;  26;  Leviticus  18:21;  20:2-5;  19: 
4-5;  2  Kings  17:17;  16:3;  21:1-17. 

2SPrudentius,  Peristephanon,  X,  1011  ff,  cited  in 
Willoughby,   op.   cit.,    131. 

2*Edward  Carpenter,  Pagan  and  Christian  Creeds, 
43;  Samuel  Angus,  Mystery  Religions  and  Christianity, 
94-95. 


312 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


the  neophyte  emerged  drenched, 
dripping,  and  scarlet  from  head  to 
foot.  He  was  greeted  by  the  spec- 
tators as  one  who  "had  been  born 
again  to  a  divine  life  for  eternity." 
The  bath  in  blood  was  "believed  to 
purify  him  from  the  sins  and  evils 
of  his  old  life  and  make  him  a  new 
man,  or  rather  a  divinized  human."2" 
There  were  many  similarities  be- 
tween this  pagan  practice  and  the 
Christian's  concept  of  baptism  and 
atonement  of  Christ.  For  example, 
the  initiate's  going  down  into  the 
trench  and  coming  forth  again  very 
aptly  symbolized  death  and  rebirth, 
and  the  efficacy  attached  to  the  blood 
of  the  holy  bull  or  ram  was  believed 
to  have  as  much  saving  effect  as 
Christian  baptism  and  the  atonement 
of  Jesus.    In  the  word's  of  Dr.  Dill: 

In  taurobolium  there  was  developed  a 
ritual  in  which,  coarse  and  materialistic  as 
it  was,  paganism  made,  in  however  imper- 
fect a  form,  its  nearest  approach  to  the 
religion  of  the  Cross.28 

The  fundamental  concept  in 
taurobolium  and  ctiobolium  had  a 
kinship  to  the  divine  revelation  on 
baptism  and  atonement  as  given  to 
Adam,  wherein  the  Lord  said: 

Ye  must  ...  be  cleansed  by  blood, 
even  the  blood  of  mine  Only  Begotten;  that 
ye  might  be  sanctified  from  all  sin,  and  enjoy 
the  words  of  eternal  life  in  this  world,  and 
eternal  life  in  the  world  to  come,  even  im- 
mortal glory;  For  ...  by  the  blood  ye  are 
sanctified.27 

J.  M.  Robertson  came  to  the  fol- 
lowing conclusion: 

In  the  procedure  of  taurobolia  and  crio- 
bolia  which  grew  very  popular  in  the 
Roman  world,  we  have  the  literal  and 
original  meaning  of  that  phrase  "washed 
in  the  blood  of  the  lamb";  the  doctrine  being 
that  resurrection  and  eternal  life  were  se- 
cured by  drenching  or  sprinkling  with  the 
actual  blood  of  a  sacrificial  bull  or  ram.88 

It  is  true  that  in  washing  with 
ram's  blood  the  pagans  did  put  a 
very  literal  and  realistic  interpreta- 
tion on  the  foregoing  phrase,  but  the 
evidence  contained!  in  the  Book  of 
Mormon  is  positive  to  the  effect  that 
in  taurobolium  and  criobolium  we  do 
not  find  the  origin  of  the  statement 
"washed  in  the  blood  of  the  lamb." 
That  phrase  did  not  originate  with 
either  the  pagans  nor  with  the  Ne- 
phites.  Both  groups,  inherited  it 
from  an  earlier  source — from  the 
doctrine  of  atonement  instituted  be- 
fore man  was  placed  upon  the  earth. 
In  fact, 

Enoch  saw  the  day  of  the  coming  of  the 
Son   of   Man,   even   in   the  flesh;    and   his 

^Willoughby,  op.   cit.,   131. 

26Samuel  Dill,  Roman  Society  from  Nero  to  Marcus 
Aurelius,    155. 

27Pearl  of  Great  Price,    Moses  6:57-60. 
28J.  M.  Robertson,  Pagan  Christs,  315. 


soul  rejoiced,  saying:  The  righteous  is  lifted 
up,  and  the  Lamb  is  slain  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world.28 

The  Nephite  record  makes  clear 
two  important  points,  i.  e.,  that  the 
phrase  "washed  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb"  is  extremely  old,  and  that  the 
prophets  who  lived  in  ancient  Amer- 
ica understood  its  true  meaning. 
The  Jaredites  who  came  to  America 
shortly  following  the  flood  were  fa- 
miliar with  it.  Ether,  their  last 
prophet,  predicted  that  a  "New 
Jerusalem"  would  be  built  upon  this 
the  American  continent,  and  those 
who  should  inhabit  that  Utopian  city 


-9Pearl     of    Great    Price,    Moses    7:47; 
5:6;    13:8. 


Revelations 


are  "they  whose  garments  are  white 
through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."30 
According  to  the  prophets,  the  Old 
Jerusalem  should  eventually  under- 
go a  transformation  and  also  become 
a  holy  city  filled  with  righteousness. 
At  that  time  those  who  reside  in  that 
city  are  "They  [who]  have  been 
washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."8 

Another  race  of  people  who  in- 
habited ancient  America  taught 
the  same  doctrine.     Nephi  (600  B. 
C),  in  speaking  of  the  redeemed, 
said,    "Their    garments    are    made 
(Concluded  on  page  314) 

soBook  of  Mormon,    Ether   13:10-11. 
!»Ibid. 


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313 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


THE  COMMON  SOURCE  OF  RELIGIOUS  TRUTH 


(Concluded  [com  page  313) 
white  in  His  blood;"82  while  Alma 
(nearly  five   hundred  years   later) 
proclaimed  the  same  concept.88 

The  foregoing  phraseology,  there- 
fore, was  merely  figurative  lan- 
guage, as  the  Nephites  did  not  be- 
lieve or  teach  that  there  would  be  a 
literal  washing  of  human  beings  in 
Christ's  blood.  The  meaning  be- 
hind that  phrase  was  that  the  peo- 
ple who,  through  faith,  repentance, 
baptism,  confirmation,  and  righteous 
living,  merited  celestial  glory  were 
the  ones  who  were  "washed  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb."  In  reference 
to  the  wicked,  Alma  declared: 

I  say  unto  you,  ye  will  know  at  that 
day  [judgment  day]  that  ye  cannot  be 
saved;  for  there  can  no  man  be  saved  ex- 
cept his  garments  are  washed  white;  yea. 
his  garments  must  be  purified  until  they 
are  cleansed  from  all  stain,  through  the 
blood  of  him  of  whom  it  has  been  spoken 
by  our  fathers  who  should  come  to  redeem 
his  people  from  their  sins.84 

When  the  Master  visited  the  Ne- 
phites following  His  resurrection, 
He  confirmed  Alma's  doctrine  in 
the  following  important  remark, 
making  clear  how  one  can  be  washed 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb: 

S2Ibid..   1   Nephi  12:10. 
33Ibid„    Alma   5:21;   13:11. 
**lbid. 


No  unclean  thing  can  enter  into  his 
kingdom;  therefore  nothing  entereth  into 
his  rest,  save  it  be  those  who  have  washed 
their  garments  in  my  blood,  because  of 
their  faith,  and  the  repentance  of  all  their 
sins,  and  their  faithfulness  unto  the  end.85 

The  night  preceding  His  cruci- 
fixion, Jesus  the  Christ  willingly  suf- 
fered so  intensely  that  "blood  cometh 
from  every  pore,  so  great  [was] 
.  .  .  his  anguish  for  the  wickedness 
and  the  abominations  of  his  peo- 
ple."38 

In  some  manner,  actual  and  terribly  real 
though  to  man  incomprehensible,  the  Sav- 
ior took  upon  Himself  the  burden  of  the 
sins  of  mankind  from  Adam  to  the  end 
of  the  world.87 

Why  was   it  necessary   for  the 

Savior  to  shed  His  blood?    His  own 

answer  to  this  interrogation  is  the 

best  that  could  be  given.     Quoting 

His  words  to  the  Prophet  Joseph 

Smith : 

For  behold,  I,  God,  have  suffered  these 
things  for  all,  that  they  might  not  suffer  if 
they  would  repent.  But  if  they  would  not 
repent,  they  must  suffer  even  as  I,  which 
suffering  caused  myself,  even  God,  the  great- 
est of  all,  to  tremble  because  of  pain,  and 
to  bleed  at  every  pore.38 

^Ibid.,  3  Nephi  27:13-27;  Doctrine  and  Covenants, 
Sec.  76:69. 

38Book  of  Mormon,   Mosiah  3:7. 

S7James   E.   Talmage,  Jesus   the  Christ,   613. 

3SLuke  22:39-44;  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  Sec. 
19:16-18. 


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Further  light  was  thrown  upon 
this  subject  in  a  pertinent  statement 
made  by  the  Lord  to  Brigham  Young 
relative  to  the  martyrdom  of  the 
Prophet.     Quoting: 

It  was  needful  that  he  should  seal  his 
testimony  with  his  blood,  that  he  might  be 
honored,  and  the  wicked  might  be  con- 
demned.39 

John  the  Revelator  understood  the 
doctrine  of  atonement  through  sacri- 
fice in  Jesus  and  rejoiced  in  its  ex- 
piating grace.  He  wrote  regarding 
the  Man  of  Galilee: 

And  they  sung  a  new  song,  saying,  thou 
art  worthy  to  take  the  book,  and  to  open 
the  seals  thereof:  for  thou  wast  slain,  and 
hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out 
of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people, 
and  nation;  And  hast  made  us  unto  our  God 
kings  and  priests:  and  we  shall  reign  on 
the  earth.40 

Jesus,  therefore,  preceding  cruci- 
fixion had  His  last  great  struggle, 
while  in  mortality,  with  Satan  and 
with  death  and  came  forth  victori- 
ous. As  the  Father  had  life  in  Him- 
self, so  had  the  Son.  Thus  through 
the  death  of  the  Master  an  expiatory 
sacrifice  was  offered.  Justice  was 
satisfied,  the  will  of  God  fulfilled, 
and  the  Son  became  the  Master  of 
life  eternal.  "For  as  in  Adam  all 
die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be 
made  alive."41  Through  the  power 
of  "light  and  life"  which  was  in  Him, 
all  men  shall  be  resurrected.  Thus 
in  Gethsemane  and  at  Golgotha  the 
Lamb  of  God's  blood  was  shed  in 
order  that  we  might  live.12 

ssIbid..   136:39b. 

""Revelations   5:9-10. 

*M    Corinthians   15:21-22. 

^John  Taylor,  Mediation  and  Atonement,  1-205; 
Talmage,  op.  cit.,  17-31,  610-614;  Ibid.,  Articles  o{ 
Faith,  76-97. 


How  The  Church 
Stands  Today 

( Continued  from  page  269 ) 

Expended  directly  by  the 
Church  Welfare  Committee..$    144,080.00 

Expended  for  the  extension 
and  improvement  of  hospi- 
tal buildings  and  for  the 
care  of  the  sick  therein  ....        98,321.89 

Additional  assistance  extended 
to  the  Church  building  pro- 
gram (wards,  stakes,  and 
missions)  representing  pay- 
ments on  the  basis  of  60% 
for  buildings  authorized  be- 
fore the  change  in  policy 
January  1,  1939 80,268.79 


Total $1,490,981.92 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing, 
the  following  supplies  had 
been  assembled  and  were  on 


314 


How  The  Church 
Stands  Today 

hand  December  31,  1939, 
and  are  available  for  the 
needy  during  the  year  1940: 

Clothing  and  Bedding 

Estimated 
Value 
Men's     clothing, 

pieces         5,635  $     2,254.00 
Women's    clothing, 

pieces         9,944 
Children's  clothing, 

pieces         5,451 
Quilts    and    miscel- 
laneous items 
8,442 


2,483.20 
1,253.75 


8,929.06 


Total       29,472 


$  14,920.01 


Canned  Fruits  and  Vegetables 

Fruits     and    vege- 
tables, cans 

1,177,516  $129,526.76 
Fruits    apd     vege- 
tables, bottles 

31,002        3,410.22 
Dried  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, pounds 

104,110      5,475.34 


Total 


$138,412.32 


Other  Produce 

Flour,  pounds 

230,521  $  3,457.81 
Potatoes,  pounds 

524,132  5,294.15 
Grain,  pounds 

317,297        3,967.21 


Other  vegetables, 
pounds 

149,877 
Meat,  pounds 

28,816 

1,094.10 
3,169.76 

Total   1,250,643                       $  16,983.03 

Fuel  and  Lumber 

Coal,  pounds 

935,300  $     1,870.60 
Wood,  cords 

250         1,250.00 
Lumber,  board  feet 

4,989           139.67 

Total 

Total  on  hand 
December  31,  1939 


Fast  Offering  Information 

Average  fast  offerings  and  welfare  con- 
tributions per  capita  in  wards  82.2 

Stakes  with  the  highest  per  capita: 

New  York  2.16 

Curlew  2.13 

St.  Johns 1.92 

South  Los  Angeles   1.53 

Benson   .1.42 

Chicago   1.41 

Bonneville    1 .40 

Kanab  1 .33 

Portland 1.31 

San  Bernardino 1.30 

Number  of  stakes  that  paid  more  than 
$1.00  per  capita 28 

Missions  with  the  highest  per  capita: 
Membership  less  than  1500: 

Japanese 1 .59 

Czech 92 

Argentine  55 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     194C 


Brazilian  54 

Membership  over  1500: 

Swiss  - 67 

East  German  59 

Eastern  States  53 

California 52 

The  Church  Unemployment 
Situation 

As  of  December  31,   1939,  as  follows: 
Employable     needing      employment, 

Januarv  1,  1939  6,817 

Employable     needing      employment, 

December  31,   1939   5,046 

Skilled    workmen    unemployed,    De- 
cember 31,   1939  659 

Unskilled      workmen       unemployed, 

December  31,   1939 3,195 

Women  unemployed,   December  31, 

1939 1,192 

Number  employed  during  year  2,963 

Number  of  persons  used  on  Church 

work  projects  during  year  7,188 

Average  number  of  persons  assisted 

monthly    12,955 

Summary — Erection   and  Improvement 
of  Church  Buildings 

Appropriated    for    ward    and 

stake  buildings  $    657,012.94 

Appropriated     for     seminaries 

and    institutes    - 36,004.37 

Appropriated      for       hospital 

buildings    15,183.15 

Amount  raised  locally  for  the 

foregoing   improvements  ....      525,146.24 

Expended  for  mission  build- 
ings and  real  estate  116,807.05 

Improvements  in  temples  10,266.38 


$     3,260.67 


$173,576.03 


Total 


-- $L 

(Continued  on 


360,420.13 
page  316) 


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315 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


THE  ADVERTISERS 

and  Where  You  Will  Find 

Their  Messages 

Beneficial  Life  Insurance  Co 

- ...Back  Cover 

Bennett  Glass  and  Paint  Co 265 

Borden's  St.  Charles  Evaporated 

Milk .__ 291 

Brigham  Young  University 312 

Cloverleaf  Dairy  297 

Continental  Oil   Company 264 

Deseret  News   Press- 318 

Ford  Motor  Co 311 

Fuller,  W.  P.  &  Co __263 

George  Ellis  Health  Cooker  312 

Globe  Grain  &  Milling  Co 292 

Harper  &  Brothers,  Inc 261 

Hovey  Press  _. 264 

Intermountain  Knitting   Co 259 

International  Harvester  Co. 257 

KSL  Radio  Station 

Inside  Back  Cover 

L.  D.  S.  Business  College 319 

Landes  Tractor  &  Equipment  Co...313 

McCune  School  of  Music 304 

Miss  Saylor's  Chocolates 297 

Mountain  Fuel  Supply  _ 264 

Mountain  States  Implement  Co 317 

Nalley's,   Inc ...... 293 

Ogden  School  of  Beauty  Culture.. 264 

Palace  Hotel    265 

Purex 295 

Quish  School  of  Beauty  Culture..312 
Red  Comet  Fire  Extinguisher  Co...260 

Royal  Baking  Co 297 

Royal  Typewriter  Co 260 

Safeway  Stores,  Inc.  262 

Shell  Oil  Co.— Inside  Front  Cover 

Standard  Oil  Co.  of  Calif 310 

Three  Diamonds  Crabmeat 296 

Union  Pacific  Stages _314 

Utah  Engraving  Co.  316 

Utah  Home  Fire  Insurance  Co...  261 

Utah  Oil  Refining  Co 315 

Utah    Poultry    Producers'    Coop. 

Ass'n    294 

Utah  Power  6  Light  Co 296 

Washburn  &  Condon 316 

Woodbury  College  312 

Z.  C.  M.  I ._ 261 


HOW  THE  CHURCH  STANDS  TODAY 


WE  Of  FER  .  . . 

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( Continued  [com  page  315) 

STATISTICS  AND   OTHER  DATA 
FOR  THE  YEAR  1939 

There  were  on  December  31,  1939:  128 
stakes  (at  the  present  time  130);  1055 
wards;  99  independent  branches,  or  a  total 
of  1,154  wards  and  branches  in  the  stakes 
of  Zion;  also  35  missions;  1002  mission 
branches,  and  250  districts. 

Church  Membership 

Stakes 645,618 

Missions 157,910 

Total . 803,528 

Church  Growth 

Children  blessed  and  entered  on  the 
records  of  the  Church  in  the  stakes 
and  missions  20,988 

Children  baptized  in  the  stakes  and 

missions 15,199 

Converts  baptized  in  the  stakes  and 
missions   7,945 

Number    of    long-term    missionaries 

from  Zion,  December  31,  1939 2,046 

Number    of    short-term    missionaries 

from  Zion,  December  31,  1939  ....        26 

Number  of  local  missionaries 78 

Total    number   of    missionaries    in 

the  missions  of  the  Church  2,150 

Number  engaged  in  missionary  work 

in  the  stakes  2,101 

Total  missionaries  4,251 

Number  of  missionaries  who  re- 
ceived training  in  the  Missionary 
Home 1,071 

Social  Statistics 

Birth  rate,  per  thousand 31.5 

Marriage  rate,  per  thousand  17 

Death  rate,  per  thousand  _. 6.5 

Expended   for  the  Maintenance 
of  Missionaries 

Collected  by  wards  and  paid 

to  missionaries  $      86,392.67 

Average  cost  per  missionary, 

1939,  $31.06  per  month  or  a 

total  of  $372.72  per  year  per 

missionary.  Number  of  mis- 
sionaries      December      31, 

1939,  2,150,  making  a  total 

average     expense     for     the 

year  of  801,348.00 

Estimated     possible     earnings 

per  missionary  $900.00  per 

year   by   2,150,   number    of 

missionaries,  makes  an  esti- 
mated  total   of  what    these 

missionaries      might      have 

earned  if  at  home  of  1,935,000.00 


Total  estimated  contribution 
of  missionaries  and  their 
families  for  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  $2,822,740.67 

CHANGES   IN  CHURCH   OFFICERS, 
STAKE,  WARD,  AND  BRANCH  OR- 
GANIZATIONS   SINCE    LAST 
OCTOBER  CONFERENCE 

General  Auxiliary  Boards 
Reorganized 

Louise  Y.  Robison  has  been  released  as 
president  of  the  General  Board  of  the  Re- 
lief   Society.       Also    released    were    Amy 


316 


Brown  Lyman  as  first  counselor,  Kate  M 
Barker  as  second  counselor,  and  Julia  A. 
F.  Lund  as  secretary-treasurer. 

Amy  Brown  Lyman  appointed  president 
of  the  General  Board  of  the  Relief  Society, 
with  Marcia  Knowlton  Howells  as  first 
counselor,  Donna  Durrant  Sorenson  as  sec- 
ond counselor,  and  Vera  White  Pohlman 
as   general   secretary-treasurer. 

May  Anderson  has  been  released  as  su- 
perintendent of  the  General  Board  of  the 
Primary  Association.  Also  released  were 
Isabelle  S.  Ross  as  first  assistant  superin- 
tendent, Edith  H.  Lambert  as  second  as- 
sistant superintendent,  and  Mary  R.  Jack, 
as  secretary  and  treasurer. 

May  Green  Hinckley  appointed  super- 
intendent of  the  General  Board  of  the  Pri- 
mary Association,  with  Adele  Cannon  How- 
ells as  first  assistant  superintendent,  Janet 
Murdoch  Thompson  as  second  assistant 
superintendent,  and  Beth  Paxman  as  sec- 
retary and  treasurer. 

Special  Appointments 

Tracy  Y.  Cannon,  appointed  as  chair- 
man of  the  General  Music  Committee  to 
succeed  Apostle  Melvin  J.  Ballard,  and  Le- 
Roy  J.  Robertson  appointed  to  succeed 
Brother  Cannon  as  second  assistant.  George 
D.  Pyper,  first  assistant,  and  N.  Lorenzo 
Mitchell,  secretary,  were  retained. 

Mission  Presidents 

President  Joseph  E.  Evans  released  from 
presiding  over  French  Mission. 

President  Franklin  J.  Murdock  released 
from  Netherlands  Mission. 

President  Joseph  Jacobs  released  from 
Palestine-Syrian  Mission. 

President  Mark  B.  Garff  released  from 
Danish  Mission. 

President  John  A.  Israelsen  released  from 
Norwegian  Mission. 

President  Hugh  B.  Brown  released  from 
British  Mission. 

President  Thomas  E.  McKay  released 
from  Swiss  Mission. 

New  Stakes  Organized 

A  new  stake  to  be  known  as  Ingle  wood 
Stake  was  organized  November  19th.  It 
comprises  five  wards  and  one  independent 
branch:  Redondo  and  Torrance  wards 
taken  from  Long  Beach  Stake;  Inglewood, 
Mar  Vista,  and  Santa  Monica  wards  and 
El  Segundo  Branch  taken  from  Hollywood 
Stake. 

A  new  stake  to  be  known  as  Emigration 
Stake  was  organized  March  10th  by  a  di- 
vision of  the  Ensign  Stake,  and  consists 
of  the  Eleventh,  Twelfth,  Thirteenth,  Twen- 
ty-first, Twenty-seventh,  and  University 
wards.  The  Ensign  Stake  now  consists  of 
the  North  Eighteenth,  South  Eighteenth, 
Twentieth,  and   Ensign  wards. 

A  new  stake  to  be  known  as  Riverside 
Stake  was  organized  March  24th  by  a  di- 
vision of  the  Salt  Lake  Stake,  and  consists 
of  the  Fifteenth,  Sixteenth,  Twenty-eighth^ 
Twenty-ninth,  Thirty- fourth,  and  Center 
wards.  The  Salt  Lake  Stake  retains 
the  Fourteenth,  Seventeenth,  Nineteenth, 
Twenty-second,  Twenty-third,  Twenty- 
fourth,  and  Capitol  Hill  wards. 

Stake  Name  Changed 

The  old  Pasadena  Stake  is  now  known 
as  San  Fernando  Stake.  Los  Angeles  Stake 
was  formerly  known  as  Hollywood  Stake, 
South  Los  Angeles  Stake  was  formerly 
known  as  Los  Angeles  Stake. 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,     MAY,     1940 


How  The  Church 
Stands  Today 

Stake  Presidents  Appointed 

William  S.  Erekson  appointed  president 
of  the  Cottonwood  Stake  to  succeed  Presi- 
dent Samuel  E.  Bringhurst. 

Alfred  E.  Rohner  appointed  president  of 
the  newly  organized  Inglewood  Stake. 

Alma  Sonne  appointed  president  of  the 
Cache  Stake  to  succeed  President  Joseph 
E.  Cardon. 

George  L.  Scott  appointed  president  of 
the  Portland  Stake  to  succeed  President 
Monte  Lafayette  Bean. 

Harold  S.  Snow  appointed  president  of 
the  St.  George  Stake  to  succeed  President 
William  O.  Bentley. 

President  Colen  H.  Sweeten  released  as 
president  of  Curlew  Stake. 

Willard  Ellis  Bay  appointed  president 
of  the  Garfield  Stake  to  succeed  President 
Milton  Twitchell. 

Edwin  Sorensen  appointed  president  of 
the  North  Sevier  Stake  to  succeed  Presi- 
dent Heber  C.  Williams. 

Irvin  L.  Warnock  appointed  president 
of  the  Sevier  Stake  to  succeed  President 
W.  Eugene  Poulson. 

C.  Douglas  Barnes  appointed  president 
of  the  Long  Beach  Stake  to  succeed  Presi- 
dent John  W.  Jones. 

Royle  S.  Papworth  appointed  president 
of  the  Star  Valley  Stake  to  succeed  Presi- 
dent Clarence  Gardner. 

George  A.  Christensen  appointed  presi- 
dent of  the  newly  organized  Emigration 
Stake. 

John  B.  Matheson  appointed  president 
of  the  newly  organized  Riverside  Stake. 

Stake  Disorganized 

Curlew  Stake  was  disorganized  Febru- 
ary 11th  and  wards  transferred  to  other 
stakes  as  follows:  Arbon  Ward  to  Po- 
catello  Stake;  Holbrook  Ward  to  Malad 
Stake;  Park  Valley,  Rosette,  Snowville, 
and  Stone  wards  to  Bear  River  Stake. 

Ward  Transferred 

Hollywood  Ward,  Los  Angeles  Stake, 
transferred   from   San   Fernando  Stake. 

Ward  Name  Changed 

Central  Ward,  South  Sevier  Stake,  was 
formerly  known  as  Inverury  Ward. 

New  Wards  Organized 

Cedar  Fourth  Ward,  Parowan  Stake,  cre- 
ated by  a  division  of  Cedar  Third  Ward. 

Mount  Ogden  Ward,  Mount  Ogden 
Stake,  created  by  a  division  of  Ogden 
Twelfth  and  Ogden  Seventeenth  Wards. 

Kaysville  First  Ward,  North  Davis  Stake, 
and  Kaysville  Second  Ward,  North  Davis 
Stake,  created  by  a  division  of  former 
Kaysville  Ward. 

Garfield  East  Ward,  Oquirrh  Stake,  and 
Garfield  West  Ward,  Oquirrh  Stake,  cre- 
ated by  a  division  of  the  former  Garfield 
Ward. 

Maxwell  Park  Ward,  Oakland  Stake, 
created  by  a  division  of  the  Dimond  and 
Elmhurst  Wards. 

North  Las  Vegas  Ward,  Moapa  Stake, 
created  by  a  division  of  the  Las  Vegas 
Ward.  ■'- '--■  "  •  - 

Independent  Branches   Made   Wards^ 

Caldwell  Ward,  Nampa  Stake,  was.  for- 
merly independent  branch  of  same  stake.  ■ 
Monrovia   Ward,   Pasadena   Stake,  was 


formerly  independent  branch  of  that  stake. 

New  Independent  Branches 

'  Highland  Park  Branch,  North  Idaho 
Falls  Stake,  was  formerly  dependent  branch 
of  Idaho  Falls  Fourth  Ward. 

Ophir  Branch,  Tooele  Stake,  has  been  re- 
organized; inactive  since  1927. 

Las  Cruces  Branch,  Mount  Graham 
Stake,  was  formerly  dependent  branch  of 
El  Paso  Ward. 

Rockport  Branch,  Summit  Stake,  was  for- 
merly  dependent  on  Wanship  Ward. 

Ward  Disorganized 

Corning  Ward,  Gridley  Stake,  disorgan- 
ized and  transferred  to  California  Mission; 
to  function  as  Sunday  School  in  the  Shasta 
District. 


Branches  Disorganized 

Grays  Harbor  Branch,  Seattle  Stake, 
transferred  back  to  Northwestern  States 
Mission. 

Raymond  Branch,  Seattle  Stake,  trans- 
ferred back  to  Northwestern  States  Mis- 
sion. 

Those  Who  Have  Passed  Away 

Harold  G.  Reynolds,  L.  D.  S.  Mission 
Secretary  and  Church  transportation  agent 
since  1906,  also  bishop  of  Twenty-first 
Ward  for  fifteen  years,  and  former  mem- 
ber of  Deseret  Sunday  School  Union  Gen- 
eral Board. 

James  G.  McDonald,  presiding  Elder  at 
Brighton  for  many  years,  also  civic  and 
industrial  leader. 

Ephraim  P.  Ellison,  director  of  Beneficial 
(Concluded  on  page  319) 


WHEN  YOUR  HAY  CROP  IS  READY 
AND  THE  WEATHER  WON'T  WAIT . . . 

You  can  depend  on  sturdy  Oliver  hay  tools.  A  light-draft,  clean-clipping 
Oliver  Mower — tractor-mounted  or  pull-type — will  do  a  fast,  sure  job  of 
cutting.  The  husky-framed  Oliver  Self  Dump  Rake  will  handle  heavy  or 
light  hay  under  any  conditions.  Or  you  may  prefer  the  rolling  action  of 
the  Oliver  Combination  Side  Delivery  Rake  and  Tedder. 

There  are  tools  in  the  Oliver  line  to  meet  your  needs  for  all  crops  and 
all  operations  and  Oliver  tractors  with  plenty  of  reserve  power  to  pull  and 
drive.  Visit  your  nearest  Mountain  States  Branch  or  Mountain  States 
dealer  and  see  what  Oliver  offers. 

Attention,  opportunity  seekers!  Good  territories  are  still  open  for  Moun- 
tain States  dealerships.    Write  us  today. 

MOUNTAIN    STATES 
IMPLEMENT   CO 


BRANCHES:    UTAH 

Murray 

'  Ogden  ■  ■  - 

Logan 
Tremonton 


OGDEN,  UTAH 


BRANCHES:    IDAHO 


:    Preston 
Blackfoot 
Shelley 
Idaho  Falls 


Bexburg 

Rupert 

Twin  Falls 

Buhl 


,317 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


SOLUTION   OF  APRIL  PUZZLE 


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Jt'sl 


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ewi 


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nexpen6we 


I 


WHAT? 

Our  New,  Convenient,  Inex- 
pensive ready-made  Binder 
for  keeping  your  IMPROVE- 
MENT ERAS  readily  acces- 
sible with  a  minimum  of 
trouble. 

These  binders  are  durable, 
attractive,  and  so  made  that 
a  whole  year's  issues  can  be 
conveniently  kept,  issue  by 
issue,  ready  for  immediate 
reference. 

And  the  price  is  only  $1.25 
per  binder! 

See  them  in  our  display  win- 
dow, No.  8,  South  Main 
Street,  or  call  at  29  Richards 
Street,  for  full  particulars. 

cLjeSerel  I lewd 


p. 


redd  •  .  . 

29  Richards  Street 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

Prompt  Attention  Given  to 
Mail  Orders  and  Inquiries 


Scriptural  Crossword  Puzzle— "Awaiting  an  Answer" 

(Hab.  2=1) 


ACROSS 


1  "The  burden  which  Habakkuk  the 

.  .  .  did  see" 
7  "I  am  Alpha  and  .  .  ." 

11  Small  horses 

12  The  Book  of  Job  is  one 

13  ".  .  .  at  the  end  it  shall  speak" 

14  "Write  .  .  .  vision" 

16  "The    memory     of     the    .    .    .    is 

blessed" 
18  "would  God  I  had  died  for  thee, 

O  .  .  .  ,  my  son,  my  son!" 

20  Oil,  a  combining  form 

21  Note 

22  "Behold,  his   soul  which  is   lifted 

...  is  not  upright  in  him" 
2  *  Wear  down 
L'j  Crude  tartar 
28  Everglade  State 
?9  "what  I  .  .  .  answer" 
31   "which  if  a  man  do  he  shall  .  .  . 

in  them" 


reproved" 


34  Satisfactory 

35  Harden 
37  "when  I  .  . 
39  Tans 

41  "that  he  may  .  .  .  delivered'1 

42  Weight  of  Turkey 
44  Tight 

46  "he  transgresseth  .  .  .  wine" 

47  "the  Lord  is  in  .  .  .  holy  temple ' 

49  "this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh 

the  world,  even  our  ..." 

50  Compass  point 

51  Muffled 

52  "compassed  about  with  .  .  .  great 

a  cloud  of  witnesses" 

53  One  who  asserts  a  right 

54  Third  king  of  Judah 

Our  Text  from  Habakkuk  is   13,   14, 
16,  29,  31,  46,  47,  and  49  combined 


DOWN 


1  Pages 

2  They  put  Paul  in  peril 

3  Burden 

4  Century  plant  fiber 

5  "make  it   plain   upon   tables,   that 

.  .  .  may  run  that  readeth  it" 

6  Impede 

7  "call  thou,  and  I  will  answer:  .  .  . 

let  me  speak,  and  answer  thou 
me" 

8  Army  officer 

9  Rival 

10  Combustible  mixtures 

12  From 

15  Hectometer 

17  "And  whereas  thou  sawest  the  feet 

and  .  .  ." 

18  Descendant  of  Asher;  the  Altar 

19  Soothe 


23  "Therefore,    behold,    I    will  .  .  . 

her" 

24  Child  (Scot.) 

26  Like  a  specter 

27  Used  for  calking  seams 

30  One  of  a  family   descended   from 
Gershon;  Neil  bit  (anag.) 

32  Nuns 

"And   the  ...  ,    which   the   Lord 
God  had  taken  from  man" 

36  Greek  letter 

37  Borders  on 

38  Manner 

40  Book  in  the  Old  Testament  before 

Habakkuk 
43  "Where  is  .  .  .  thy  brother" 
45  City;  animal 
48  Weight  of  India 

50  Palmetto  State 

51  Note  in  minor 


33 


318 


THE     IMPROVEMENT     ERA,    MAY,    1940 


HOW  THE  CHURCH  STANDS  TODAY 


(Concluded  from  page  317) 
Life  Insurance  Company,  president  of  Lay- 
ton  Sugar  Company,  and  for  many  years 
counselor  in  the  North  Davis  Stake  presi- 
dency. 

Sarah  E.  Stewart,  noted  educational  and 
civic  leader  and  Church  auxiliary  worker, 
widow  of  William  M.  Stewart,  founder  and 
first  dean  of  the  School  of  Education  at  the 
University  of  Utah. 

Florence  Neslen  Evans,  widow  of  the 
late  John  A.  Evans,  and  mother  of  Richard 
L.  Evans  of  the  First  Council  of  Seventy. 

Lorenzo  Argyle,  believed  to  be  the  last 


member  of  the  first  pioneer  handcart  com- 
pany to  come  to  Utah  ( the  Ellsworth  Com- 
pany) ;  was  bishop  of  the  Lake  Shore  Ward 
for  thirty-four  years. 

Elizabeth  Turner  Cain  Crismon,  former 
member  of  the  General  Board  of  the  L.  D. 
S.  National  Woman's  Relief  Society  under 
President  Emmeline  B.  Wells. 

Marion  A.  Condie,  first  counselor  in 
Blaine  Stake  presidency. 

Bishop  James  Johnson,  Nampa  Second 
Ward,  Nampa  Stake. 

Bishop  Henry  Jones,  St.  Johns  Ward, 
Malad  Stake. 


EVIDENCES  AND  RECONCILIATIONS 


{ Concluded  from  page  289 ) 
Compare  this  near  nonsense  with 
the  stately,  clear,  and  understand- 
able account  given  in  Genesis,  first 
chapter: 

In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven 
and  the  earth.  And  the  earth  was  with- 
out form,  and  void;  and  darkness  was  upon 
the  face  of  the  deep.  And  the  Spirit  of  God 
moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.  And 
God  said,  Let  there  be  light:  and  there  was 
light.  And  God  saw  the  light,  that  it  was 
good:  and  God  divided  the  light  from  the 
darkness.  And  God  called  the  light  Day, 
and  the  darkness  he  called  Night.  And  the 
evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day. 

And  God  said,  Let  there  be  a  firmament 
in  the  midst  of  the  waters,  and  let  it  divide 
the  waters,  from  the  waters.  And  God 
made  the  firmament,  and  divided  the  waters 
which  were  under  the  firmament  from  the 
waters  which  were  above  the  firmament: 
and  it  was  so.  And  God  called  the  firma- 
ment Heaven.  And  the  evening  and  the 
morning  were  the  second  day. 

And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  under  the 
heaven  be  gathered  together  unto  one  place, 
and  let  the  dry  land  appear:  and  it  was  so. 
And  God  called  the  dry  land  Earth;  and 
the  gathering  together  of  the  waters  called 
he  Seas:  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 
And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth 
grass,  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit 
tree  yielding  fruit  after  his  kind,  whose  seed 
is  in  itself,  upon  the  earth:  and  it  was  so. 
And  the  earth  brought  forth  grass,  and 
herb  yielding  seed  after  his  kind,  and  the 
tree  yielding  fruit,  whose  seed  was  in  itself, 
after  his  kind:  and  God  saw  that  it  was 
good.  And  the  evening  and  the  morning 
were  the  third  day. 

And  God  said,  Let  there  be  lights  in  the 
firmament  of  the  heaven  to  divide  the  day 
from  the  night;  and  let  them  be  for  signs,  and 
for  seasons,  and  for  days,  and  years:  And 
let  them  be  for  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the 
heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth:  and  it 
was  so.  And  God  made  two  great  lights; 
the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day,  and  the 
lesser  light  to  rule  the  night:  he  made  the 
stars  also.  And  God  set  them  in  the  firma- 
ment of  the  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the 
earth,  and  to  rule  over  the  day  and  over 
the  night,  and  to  divide  the  light  from  the 
darkness:  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 
And  the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the 
fourth  day. 

And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  bring 
forth  abundantly  the  moving  creature  that 
hath  life,  and  fowl  that  may  fly  above  the 
earth  in  the  open  firmament  of  heaven.  And 
God  created  great  whales,  and  every  liv- 
ing creature  that  moveth,  which  the  waters 
brought  forth  abundantly,  after  their  kind, 
and  every  winged  fowl  after  his  kind:  and 


God  saw  that  it  was  good.  And  God  bless- 
ed them,  saying,  Be  fruitful,  and  multiply, 
and  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas,  and  let  fowl 
multiply  in  the  earth.  And  the  evening  and 
the  morning  were  the  fifth  day. 

And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth 
the  living  creature  after  his  kind,  cattle, 
and  creeping  thing,  and  beast  of  the  earth 
after  his  kind;  and  it  was  so.  And  God 
made  the  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind, 
and  cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every  thing 
that  creepeth  upon  the  earth  after  his  kind: 
and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our 
image,  after  our  likeness:  and  let  them  have 
dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over 
the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and 
over  all  the  earth,  and  over  every  creeping 
thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth.  So 
God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him;  male  and 
female  created  he  them.     (Genesis  1:1-27.) 

The  Bible  account  compared  with 
the  Babylonian,  in  the  words  of  D. 
Bernhard  Stade,  is  "as  a  clear  moun- 
tain spring  to  the  slough  of  a  village 
cesspool."  (See  Fosdick,  Guide  to 
the  Understanding  of  the  Bible. ) 

What  is  the  message  of  the  Old 
Testament?  From  the  first  to  the 
last,  in  the  Pentateuch,  in  the  his- 
torical books,  in  the  poetical  books, 
and  in  the  prophets,  it  teaches  the 
existence  of  a  personal  God,  the 
Maker  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth, 
the  Father  of  the  human  race.  It 
teaches  that  the  earth  and  all  things 
upon  it  are  provided  for  man's  bene- 
fit, but  that  man  must  obey  law,  di- 
vine law,  to  secure  the  blessings  he 
desires.  It  teaches  that  obedience 
to  the  moral  law,  given  by  God  for 
human  conduct,  involving  faith  in 
God,  not  to  be  compared  with  man- 
made,  ethical,  selfish  codes  of  ac- 
tion, is  the  most  important  concern 
of  man.  It  is  the  message  of  mes- 
sages for  humankind. 

That  message  remains  unchanged 
in  essence  from  the  first  to  the  last 
page  of  the  Old  Testament;  but  the 
people  to  whom  it  was  given  often 
fell  from  that  truth,  and  then  by  slow 
degrees  found  their  way  back. 

In  the  words  of  Brigham  Young, 
"In  the  Bible  are  the  words  of  life 
and  salvation." 


"L.  D.  S.  TRAINING  PAYS!" 

L.  D.  S.  College 
Alumni  in 
Washington 

Returns  from  a  recent  survey 
show  that  eighty-six  former 
students  of  the  L.  D.  S.  Busi- 
ness College  are  now  em- 
ployed in  Washington,  D.  C. 
Many  others  hold  Civil  Service 
positions  throughout  the  na- 
tion. 

It  is  said  that  the  world's 
largest  employer  is  the  United 
States  Government.  Require- 
ments are  high;  but  the  pay, 
working  conditions,  and  op- 
portunities for  advancement 
are  excellent. 

One  of  the  surest,  quickest 
ways  to  prepare  for  Civil 
Service  is  to  take  intensive, 
practical  training  in  stenog- 
raphy, bookkeeping,  and 
other  business  subjects — and 
this  is  the  right  place  to  obtain 
such  training! 

Day  and  evening  classes 
continue  throughout  the  year 
— and  you'll  be  surprised  at 
the  low  rates  of  tuition!  The 
coupon  below  will  bring  you 
complete  information. 

L  D.  S.  BUSINESS 
COLLEGE 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 


L.    D.    S.    BUSINESS    COLLEGE 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 

Gentlemen:  Please  send  me,  without 
obligation,  your  "Bulletin  of  Informa- 
tion." 


Name:    ... 
Address: 


319 


LETS  SAY  IT  CORRECTLY 

LAST  means  "final";  latest  means  "most  recent"  but  implies 
that  there  will  be  others  of  the  same.  For  instance,  "Mr. 
Yeats'  last  book  was  published  after  his  death,"  and  "Miss 
Millay's  latest  book  is  titled  Conversations  at  Midnight." 

— ^— ® 


The  Improvement  Era: 

This  splendid  magazine  is  very  useful  out  here  in  the  mission 
field  and  we  are  only  too  glad  to  tell  our  members  and 
friends  about  it.  Our  easiest  sale  is  to  those  who  have  already 
subscribed  before,  for  they  realize  the  inspiration  and  instruc- 
tion which  are  found  between  those  covers  are  invaluable. 

Might  I  as  a  missionary  thank  you  for  the  copy  which 
we  receive  each  month  through  the  mission  office.  To  me 
it  is  something  I  couldn't  get  along  without. 

Sincerely, 

Elder  George  Ivins  Cannon. 
Eastern  States  Mission. 


-$- 


WE  ARE  truly  appreciative  of  the  Era.  .  .  ■  The  mission- 
aries look  forward  to  its  arrival  in  a  manner  comparable 
to  letters  from  home.  We  .  .  .  particularly  enjoy  the  good 
variety  of  Church   literature  which  it  contains. 

Kindly  accept  of  our  kindest  wishes  for  its  continued  prog- 
ress and  development,  even  as  it  has  done  in  the  past. 

Sincerely  your  brother, 
Kenneth  R.  Stevens, 
President,  Tahitian  Mission. 


-$- 


Lewiston,  Utah 
Dear  Dr.  Widtsoe: 

IT  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  have  had  The  Improvement 
Era  as  a  constant  companion  all  through  high  school,  during 
my  mission  and  through  college.  It  has  furnished  me  with 
a  great  deal  of  valuable  information  and  inspiration. 

I  write  at  this  time  to  express  my  appreciation  for  the 
service  of  The  Improvement  Era,  because,  in  my  opinion,  it 
has  reached  the  apex  of  its  value  in  printing  the  ^series  of 
articles,  "The  Common  Source  of  Religious  Truth,"  by  Dr. 
Milton  R.  Hunter. 

The  articles  are  written  in  an  interesting  and  stimulating 
manner,  and  contain  invaluable  information. 

I  wish  to  express  personal  appreciation  to  such  men  as  Dr. 
Hunter  for  their  scholarly  and  inspirational  contributions  that 
I  have  been  privileged  to  read. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Glen  L.  Taggart. 

A  WORD  OF  ADVICE 

Contest-winning  poem,  submitted  by  Mrs.  Joseph  Stonehocker, 
Cherry  Grove,  Alberta,  Canada,  North  Central  States  Mission 
phen  choice  of  magazines  comes  to  you, 
Take  the  Era. 
When  you  desire  the  Church's  view, 

Take  the  Era. 
When  you  require  a  thought  or  two, 
When  you  would  wish  a  vision  new, 
Or  need  a  testimony  true, 

Take  the  Era.         I 

And  when  it  comes  in  with  your  mail, 

Read  the  Era. 
In  benefits  of  mind  it  cannot  fail; 

Read  the  Era. 
When  carping  doubts  your  views  assail, 
Or  frothy  fiction  would  prevail 
Or  useless  gossip  is  your  tale, 

Read  the  .Era. 

And  when  you've  scanned  its:  pages  o'er, 

Send  it  on. 
To  someone  it's  an  open  'dooj"; 

Send  it  on.  •  • 

They  may  be  having  trials  sore; 
Their  searching  minds  may  need  the  more 
The  .Era's  gracious  treasure  i  store; 

Send  it  on.  ::       ■:'■:•:       •   c   .  :      .  : 


w 


PAINFUL   DENTISTRY 

McPhairson   went   to   the   dentist   to   have  a    tooth   pulled. 

"How  much?"  he  asked. 

"Five  shillings." 

"That's  verra  expensive." 

"It's  a  very  reasonable  charge,"  the  dentist  said.  "I  can't 
possibly  do  it  for  anything  less." 

"All  right,"  Mac  said,  "but  will  you  do  me  a  kindness?  Give 
me  gas,  and  take  the  money  out  of  my  pocket  while  I'm  un- 
conscious." 

GARDENING   NOTE 

"I  wish  I  could  be  sure  of  distinguishing  plants  from  weeds. 
How  did  you  learn?" 

"Pull  'em  out,  and  if  they  come  up  again,  they're  weeds." 

ONE  IN  A  MILLION 

"Dad,  it  says  here  that  a  certain  man  was  a  financial  genius. 
What  does  that  mean?" 

"That  he  could  earn  money  faster  than  his  family  could 
spend  it." 

NAUTICALLY   SPEAKING 

Sailor:     "I  guess  I'm  just  a  little  pebble  in  your  life." 
Girl  Friend:    "Well,  if  you  feel  that  way  about  it,  why  don't 
you  try  becoming  a  little  boulder?" 

WEAR  A  HAT 

Performer:  "I  certainly  object  to  going  on  right  after  that 
monkey  act." 

Circus  Master:  "You're  right.  They  may  think  it's  an 
encore." 

NEW  USE  FOR  ELECTRICITY 

Visitor:  "Don't  you  find  that  a  baby  brightens  up  a  home 
wonderfully?" 

Young  Father:  "I  do.  We  have  the  electric  light  on  most 
of  the  night  now." 

A  DIFFERENCE 

Officer:     "Hey,  you!     Didn't  you  see  that  stop  light?" 
Culprit:     "Yes,  officer,  but  I  must  confess  I  didn't  see  you." 

NOT  JUST  A  HUNCH 

Intuition — the  strange  instinct  that  tells  a  woman  she  is 
right,  whether  she  is  or  not. 

IN  THE  PINK 

Mrs.  Gossip:  "So  your  daughter  is  about  to  marry.  Do 
you  really  feel  she  is  ready  for  the  battle  of  life?" 

Mrs.  Chatter:  "She  should  be.  She's  been  in  four  en- 
gagements  already." 

NONE   BETTER 

Professor:      "John,  name  a  collective  noun." 
John:      "A  vacuum  cleaner." 

A  BAD' BEGINNING 

Two  old  settlers,  confirmed  bachelors,  sat  in  the  backwoods: 
"I  got  one  of  them  cookery  books  once,  but  I  could  do  nothing 
with  it,"  ('■/*.  •*''."' 

"Too  much  fancy  work  in  it,  eh?" 

"You  said  ftp"    Every  one  o'  them  recipes  began  the  same  " 
way:     'Take  a  clean  dish  .  .  .'  and  that  settled  me.". 


.:    WHOSE  ODDS?    ;' 

Teacher:      "Donald,    give  nie' a   sentence   containing   flip- 
pancy." 
.. ■    Donald:      "Let's  flip  V  see  whether  I  pass  Or  flunk." 


V:t!T 


320 


.&E.SAMUELSON 


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